The Good Left Undone
by Darth Malleus
Summary: The war ends in the worst way imaginable. Naruto, hell bent on revenge, finds it just out of his grasp, but through that loss he finds himself in a place much bigger than home, forming new friends, loved ones and enemies, but his past is not forgotten, especially with the chief cause staring back at him. Nothing is as it seems.
1. Prologue

_**Naruto**_

_**Star Wars**_

_**The Good Left Undone**_

_**Chapter I **_

_**Prologue**_

_**The End**_

Naruto Uzumaki's gaze was unflinching as he watched his opponent, augmented eyes seeing every twitch of his muscles and every movement of his chakra. His opponent was one of the last two living members of Akatsuki, the organisation of S-class criminals which turned his life upside down and tore everything he ever loved from him.

Five years, five long years of struggle and fighting, of loss and grief, of anger and hatred. Naruto had thought that it was over when he defeated the first generation, but Madara Uchiha was a truly twisted and conniving individual, and he had rebuilt the organisation in the shadows after his supposed defeat, making his presence known when Naruto tuned eighteen.

The entire Hidden Leaf village had been completely unprepared when the Akatsuki attacked them directly. When they resurfaced he had been elevated to the rank of Jonin, High Ninja. He was the next candidate to become Hokage, selected by the Sannin herself.

Even he didn't see this coming, and the worst thing was that he should have. He had eventually inherited Jiraiya's vast spy networks, and had become a master of the art to the point where Tsunade said the old pervert would be smiling down at him, wherever he was. He should have seen this coming, but Akatsuki had completely avoided his network, any of his spies who found even the slightest of information probably died before they could relay it.

Ten S-class Shinobi infiltrated Konohagakure no Sato that day and caused such havoc, took so many lives just to get what he possessed. There was a reason why they were all considered S-class, S for suicidal. Unless you were considered an S-class Shinobi it was suicidal to face one, let alone ten.

He could still see the partially collapsed Hokage monument, the burning corpses of the buildings. The faces, by the gods he could still see the faces. Faces of friends, who had once been laughing, smiling, were ashen and lifeless, blood spattered over their final expressions before death. Naruto had made it his mission to hunt every last member of Akatsuki down and purge them from the earth.

And he had done it. For five long years he had hunted, fought and killed every member of that thrice damned organisation. He had found and destroyed the Gedo Mezu, nullifying Madara's dreaded _Moon Eye Plan_ and scattering the entrapped eight Biju to the four winds. Every single one had succumbed to the last hosts merciless hunt. Now all that remained standing between him and the architect was this man, one single man, a man who Naruto had once considered a brother, but now looking back he scoffed at the notion. His brother had died at the Valley of the End all those years ago, all that remained was a shell whose only craving was that of vengeance on the world.

He had finally caught up to the two Uchiha. It would all end here, deep within the deserts of the Land of Wind, the great ruins of an ancient town surrounding them. A relic from a time after the Sage separated and dispersed the Biju, when the Ichibi no Shukaku freely roamed the deserts, leaving trails of devastation once every century. This town was one of the relics of that time, and even after the great beast had been sealed it had never been repopulated. It stood there, a reminder of a darker age.

Sasuke Uchiha showed no emotion as he returned Naruto's glare. Once Sasuke was defeated he would face down Madara, and finish this feud once and for all. "You're the last one."

"So it would seem."

There were no words spoken between them, instead they both blurred through a set of hand seals, finishing at exactly the same time. Both Shinobi were considered the best in the world, considered in the same league as the likes of Hanzo the Salamander, and the Legendary Sannin. They had even been likened to Madara Uchiha and the Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju.

"_Katon: Karyū Endan!"_ Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of liquid fire towards his opponent, the flames so strong that they combusted the grass between them. Naruto didn't even flinch, opening his seal to call upon the Kyubi's chakra and use one of his own original Jutsu.

"_Ninpo: Ichibi!" _His chakra became visible, encompassing him like a mystical blue fire. His living energy twisted and morphed behind him, extending from his body in time to form a single tail of pure chakra, it writhed for a split second, before circling around him in time to block the streams of flame. His tail shrugged the attack off, before streaking forward at his command, imbedding itself in the earth where the Uchiha once stood as Sasuke took to the skies in a chakra propelled leap.

Naruto rushed through the dying flames of Sasuke's fire technique, making the hand seal of the dog as he took a deep breath. "_Fūton: Shinkūgyoku."_

He released the air from his lungs, infusing them with his chakra to create several compacts bullets of wind. Sasuke saw them coming with the unnatural clarity of his activated Sharingan, and twisted his body in a corkscrew, missing the strikes by mere millimetres. He landed in a crouch, skidding slightly across the dirt as he struggled to remain standing.

Naruto was already rushing towards him, already going through the subtle changes of activating his _Sennin-Modo_, his Sage Mode, eyelids changing colour to a pinkish orange, eyes changing from azure to a noble golden yellow and the pupils reforming into bars.

Naruto cocked his right fist back, gathering chakra into his palm, and lashed out at Sasuke. The Uchiha was able to jump away, but watched in horror as the ground quaked and cracked when Naruto struck the earth. Sage mode allowed the user to access the natural energy of the world, known commonly as Senjutsu and dramatically increased their fighting ability. If that punch had connected the Uchiha would have been reduced to a crimson smear on the ground.

Fighting Naruto in Taijutsu was hard enough without adding Senjutsu and the Frog Kata that came with it into the mix. In Sage Mode going against Naruto in Taijutsu was akin to suicide, so instead Sasuke kept his distance, firing off several fire based Jutsu to keep the blonde off balance as he retreated. Before them was the ancient town hall, roof and walls half collapsed. The Uchiha ascended the stone steps, unleashing a hail of fireballs to keep Naruto out of Taijutsu range.

The blonde retaliated, firing off a swath of wind bullets at his opponent in a vain attempt to hit him. Naruto frowned as he cart-wheeled and corkscrewed, dodging various low level fire techniques before retaliating accordingly. Sasuke wasn't fighting at all like he expected. He wasn't using his Mangekyo Sharingan, and he wasn't trying to get close enough to use his lightning based arsenal or Genjutsu abilities.

Then what the hell was he doing? Leading him into a trap? It was possible. He knew Madara was around here somewhere. He could sense the immortal bastard's chakra signature, though he was doing an almost perfect job of hiding it. Nothing could properly hide when Naruto was drawing on the Kyubi to augment his senses.

Sasuke skidded to a halt, unleashing one last massive fireball, and disappeared through the half destroyed double doors. Naruto frowned as he sidestepped the flames, stalking up the stone steps towards the entrance. He brought his hands together in a familiar seal, calling out the name of the first high level Jutsu he ever learned, _"Kage Busnshin no Jutsu."_

He created ten clones, and sent them into the town hall. Five in through the main entrance, another five encircled the structure searching for others exits. With ease the blonde jumped in a chakra propelled leap, landing silently on the flat roof of the desert dwelling and entering the building through a shattered window on the second floor.

The only light came from the outside. It was obvious any artificial light would have burned out years ago, and with the time of day the shadows made it hard for any regular human to see. Lucky enough he was not regular. In Sage Mode his senses were sharpened to near inhuman levels. In Sage Mode he could see in the dark as well as he could see in the day.

He stood on a balcony, overlooking the expansive open space which was probably once the reception. His five clones had cautiously crept through the reception, only to be ambushed by the Uchiha from the shadows. Naruto guessed by his influx of memories that Sasuke had taken out two of his vanguard before they knew what hit them, and was in the middle of fighting off the other three with Kusanagi. It wasn't long until the Uchiha whittled down the remaining three to two, then one, and it was obvious that the Uchiha thought the last one was the real one.

Sasuke still underestimated him, even now. Sometimes Naruto wondered if his once friend now bitter enemy even heard that he had spent the last five years hunting down the S-rank Shinobi of Akatsuki, and that he had taken them down. Oh sure sometimes he had help in the form of Oinin and ANBU from Kiri, Suna or Ame but most of the battles ended in a one-on-one duel to the death.

Though he couldn't take all the credit for killing Kisame, the scourge of the Hidden Mist was a powerful opponent, and it took the combined effort of him and Konan to bring the big man down. He had even given the shark mans sword, Samehada, to her as thanks. Come to think of it he hadn't seen his fellow apprentice in a while. He needed to make a mental note to visit Ame.

He pushed the thoughts down, seeing Sasuke run his blade through his last remaining clone, which exploded into smoke. Naruto took the opportunity, forming a Rasengan in each hand as he stepped off the railing and fell towards his wayward teammate. "Senjutsu: Rasenrengan!" Sage Art: Rasenrengan

Naruto slammed the two fully formed Rasengan into Sasuke's abdomen, watching as the Uchiha's face contorted in pain before the backlash sent him flying back, slamming against a pair of double doors made of oak, and breaking through the strong wood, shattering the doors. Naruto sighed, deactivating his Sage form to conserve chakra as he began walking. Sasuke wouldn't be beaten so easily, not in a million years. He honestly expecting one of the Mangekyo techniques, like Amaterasu or even Izanagi, but found to his surprise none came as he stepped through the remains of the oak doors.

Within was a large chamber. The roof was half caved in, filling the room with rubble and debris. He saw the destroyed forms of tables and chairs. In fact he put Sasuke through one of the last usable tables. He stopped in the centre of the chamber, eyeing his opponent as he shakily got to his feet. "Come on Sasuke. You can't beat me fighting like this."

Sasuke spat out a gob of blood, before he smirked, "Even after all these years you're still a gullible dope."

Naruto arched an eyebrow, "Come again?"

Sasuke's smirked held, before he blurred through a mass of hand seals and kneeled, slamming his hands onto the ground. "You truly are hopeless Naruto. I led you here on purpose."

Glyphs and runes began to appear on the floor, snaking across the broken stone tiles to form a circular Iron-clad trap seal which stretched from one side of the still usable portion of the chamber to the other. Naruto smirked as the seal work, obviously the work of a master, which immediately excluded Sasuke. This was mainly because the young Uchiha was standing within the outer layer of seals, and was trapped by the outer barrier. "Unless you started researching Fuinjutsu I'd say this isn't you're handy work."

The Uchiha scowled at him, but Naruto continued, kneeling to the ground to run a hand along the central seal, a circle covered with elemental seals which surrounded him. "Hmm, this is the work of a true seal master. I'd say about Jiraiya's or my level. I suppose that means it wasn't your handy work huh Teme?"

This time the Uchiha openly snarled at him, which made Naruto chuckle. How he loved to rile the traitor up. It was one of his favourite pastimes these days. "You'd be correct, Naruto."

The blonde looked up at the owner of the voice, perfectly balanced on the remains of an old stone beam. Madara Uchiha hadn't changed his attire much over the years. He still wore that swirling orange mask over his face, his black hair was still short and messy, and his form was still completely hidden by that Akatsuki cloak. "Is this your handy work, old man?"

Madara chuckled lightly as he stepped off the beam, landing on the cracked floor as if he hadn't missed a beat. "Yes it was. One of the strongest trap seals, even a Jinchuriki of your power will be unable to break free from it."

Naruto shrugged. "Also means you won't be able to come to me. The Iron-clad trap seal is an S-rank technique in that while it imprisons the target it also erects a barrier stopping anyone from entering." He looked at the two circles, each one the foundations of a barrier of invisible energy. He sighed in annoyance. "This is going to take a while to release."

The young Toad Sage made to reach for the massive storage scroll tied to his lower back, only to stop mid-reach when Madara chuckled. "There's no need for that. I'll be finished long before you nullify the seal."

"Oh," Naruto was interested. What was the crazy old fool planning? "So what are you planning?"

"Why Naruto," Madara chided mildly, "I thought you would have noticed by now. Take a closer look at the seal."

Naruto frowned at the immortal, but shrugged and did as asked. He looked around him, his eyes examining every nook and cranny of the seal within seconds. A slight widening of his eyes was the only sign that he had noticed. There were extra runes and lines running throughout the seal, glyphs which he knew shouldn't be there. They served no purpose for the seal. Then he took a closer look, and cursed under his breath. There was another seal under the first, just as intricate as the last.

"Look underneath the underneath." Naruto muttered his deceased Sensei's words like a prayer, before turning a glare at Madara. "Are you out of your…wait, don't answer that. You are out of your mind! Do you even know what kind of a seal this is!"

He could see the mirth in the bastard's one visible eye. "Yes, it is."

Naruto grit his teeth, before his eyes once again flashed across the expanse of seals he was trapped in. On their own these created a powerful entrapment seal. But the adage of these seals had never been tried before, at least not by him. The added glyphs were an over-exaggerated version of the seals used in explosive tags. This meant one thing. This was a two way seal, one to trap him and the other to create a bomb.

"What is it?" Sasuke frowned, touching the outer barrier only to be hit with an electric jolt.

"It's a two way seal." Naruto answered for the elder Uchiha. "One was a trap seal, and these extra markings are explosive runes, larger versions of the standard seals used in explosive tags. One of these would be enough to level a small house, but all together it'll be enough to turn the entire town into one huge crater."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, before he turned a glare at his ancestor. "Is this true?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke." Madara answered. "Without the Gedo Mezu we cannot extract the Kyubi, and with the Biju freed there is no way we can complete the mission. The only way to survive is to remove the Kyubi container."

"You mean the only way for _you_ to survive." Sasuke spat angrily.

"You've been betrayed Sasuke." Naruto chuckled sadly. Besides the situation he was standing tall and proud, arms folded across his chest. He did not fear death. His friends, family and village were all dead. He would only be joining them. "I have only two regrets. That I have to die with you and I wasn't able to take Madara with me."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Naruto." Madara smirked under his spiralled orange mask, before kneeling in a crouch, hands blurring through a set of hand seals. Another seal, this one an activation glyph, appeared at his feet, with a long line leading to the main seal. He finished with lightning speed and slammed his hand into the seal. The glyphs began to glow a soft blue, running along the line and encompassing the entire seal.

Sasuke looked down at the glowing runes in a mix of fear and fascination. Naruto just stood still, his eyes not leaving the Uchiha elders single Sharingan orb for a second, "Death at last."

Madara nodded, before his entire body began to distort and swirl, a sign that he had activated his teleportation technique, safely transporting him to a safe distance from ground zero. Slowly the glow intensified until it was blinding to even Naruto's augmented eyes. The last thing the blonde saw was an incredible bright light before he blacked out.

The result was instantaneous. On a cliff ledge safely away from the town Gaara, his siblings and three ANBU squads watched on in horror as the ruins vanished in a huge explosion unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Before long a huge mushroom shaped cloud of gray smoke filled the usually cloudless skyline. It would be another hour before the smoke cleared, leaving nothing more than a huge crater, full of crushed rubble and debris. It would be another five days of continuous searching before the search for Naruto Uzumaki's body was called off.

Madara escaped the net of ANBU Suna had put up around the ruins, and he continued to be the main target of the Oinin Divisions from every village for years to come. He was eventually cornered and killed in the Land of Rice by a united force of ANBU teams from Lightning, Water, Sand and Rain. The Raikage himself was the one who ended the Uchiha, for his brother, for his adopted daughter, and for the kid who contained the Kyubi.

A monument was placed at the sight of Naruto's _death_, naming all those who died in the world's war against Akatsuki. The names of the Jinchuriki, as well as those from every village who died were inscribed on the ten storey tall marble memorial stones. In the centre were the stone statues of the nine Jinchuriki. Naruto's statue stood in the centre, and on his plaque were messages from his surviving friends.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_I had started writing this a while ago, before I started on my Long Way From Home story, but I kind of began to lose my mojo midway through chapter 4, so I uploaded the first chapter, hoping that I would be able to get my muse back with some outside help. This will be a Star Wars/Naruto crossover story, two of my favourite universes moulded into one, with two of my favourite characters of all time also moulded into one.

Hope you guys enjoy it, something for both the Anime and Sci-ci fans out there.

Please enjoy, and show your support through favourites, C2's, alerts and reviews lol.

Yours sincerely

Darth Malleus


	2. Are you an Angel?

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Are you an Angel?**_

_**Latest Holonet News**_

_**Republic Victory at Seleucami**_

_Sources confirm that the Grand Army has successfully taken the central separatist world of Seleucami, allowing our forces to push closer to the Confederation home worlds. The battle was a fierce one, with heavy casualties, including Jedi High Master Oppo Rancisis. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine congratulates this monumental victory, and expresses his regret at the lives lost. "Though we have won a great victory this day we must never forget those who died in the service of the Republic!"_

_**Count Dooku, Supreme Commander of Separatist forces is killed by The Hero with no Fear.**_

_It is confirmed that the Supreme Commander of Confederation forces, Count Dooku, was killed by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker during the Battle of Coruscant. The death of the Count, as well as the decimation of the Confederate Grand Fleet and the successful rescue of our beloved Supreme Chancellor is a huge step closer to victory in this war._

_**General Grievous defeated!**_

_It is confirmed that General Grievous, Second-in-command of all Separatist forces has been defeated and killed by Jedi High Master and Republic High General Obi-wan 'The Negotiator' Kenobi. Heavy fighting continues on Mygeeto, but with the death of the Confederate Military High Command it seems only a matter of time before victory is assured._

_**Senate pushes for Supreme Chancellor to remain in office.**_

_The senate unanimously agrees to the passing of the High Security Act, giving Supreme Chancellor Palpatine broader powers to ensure the security and integrity of the Galactic Republic._

_

* * *

_

_**Felucia**_

_**Outer-rim Territories**_

Aayla Secura walked out of the tent and stretched her aching muscles, failing to suppress a groan as she felt her joints pop. She had been stuck in that communications tent for the past two hours being debriefed by Masters Yoda and Windu. To be debriefed by the first and second Masters of the Jedi Order was an intimidating endeavour, and not something she would like to be in again anytime soon.

She needed to get out of that tent, and get a breath of fresh air. Though whether the air here was fresh or not was a matter for debate. Her friend and former teacher, Quinlan Vos, had said it best. Felucia was a burning death trap. The temperature during the day was staggering at between sixty to eighty degrees, except during the night cycle or heavy storms, where it was known to fall to minus ten.

Her choice of attire was just right for this environment. At the moment she had chosen to wear a pair of skin tight leather pants, a cut leather vest which left her arms and stomach bear and a pair of knee high black boots. Even with this attire it was still hot, and she was usually covered in sweat from her exertions before the day was out. She certainly didn't envy her Clone Troopers, boiling away inside those armoured suits.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them to see the stream of activity taking place around her. The base was being taken down and packed up. Her army was on the move. Clone troopers were loading themselves inside All Terrain Open Transports, AT-OT's, and the four legged All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, or AT-TE's. All in all they were on schedule, and the 327th Star Corps would be ready to advance within the hour.

The 327th Star Corps was a division she had been in command off for the past year, and they had fought many battles side by side. She had come to respect the Clones of the division for their battle prowess, and she knew they deeply respected her for getting them out of scrapes where they would have died in. The Divisions Clone Commander, Bly, told her as much after their first tour together. Aayla was hoping for the division to return to Coruscant after the battle of Seleucami for leave, but was denied and given a new mission.

Originally the mission was to capture high ranking Separatist leader Shu Mai. But that had quickly changed just a few days after they arrived on planet. They had saved a fellow Jedi Knight, Barriss Offee, who had reported that not only had Shu Mai left the planet, but she had planned to poison Felucia's water supply. Aayla reported this to the High Council, where she was ordered to remain and stop this crisis.

Reports suggested that since the Confederation leaders departure the enemy strength on the planet was low in a few thousand battle-droids and mercenaries with mid armoured support. For all intents and purposes it seemed that the Separatists had almost abandoned this planet entirely, leaving behind an expendable token force to make it look like they tried to defend it.

"Ma'am," She turned to see her friend and confidant standing to attention right behind her. Bly was her Clone Commander, the second-in-command of the 327th. He had watched her back since she was assigned as their superior, and the two had become close friends over the years they spent together. Bly was fully garbed in his field armour, the once pristine white with yellow trim now chipped and scorched from combat. "The division is ready to move out. All we are waiting for is your order."

She nodded her head, "Very well commander. Tell the Division they may advance."

"Yes, General," The commander replied, before leaning in a little. "Are you alright, old scruffs didn't give you a hard time did they."

She smirked at his statement. Bly had become quite protective of her over the years, heck half the corps had become overprotecting of her. Anyone who even looked at her wrong would immediately feel the glares of at least ten Clones on their backs, and another five slowly reaching for their blasters. Aayla was used to him calling the High Masters a bunch of _Old Scruffs_, and it didn't bother her. "Nothing I couldn't take care of. They just want to know when we'll be finished mopping up."

"Our offer is still open." Bly whispered in an almost conspiratorial manner.

Aayla laughed at that. The _offer _was to barge into the Jedi Temple, stun the entire High Council and hang them by their feet from the Senate entrance, "Tempting, but no."

The commander shrugged, "It's still open."

She sighed before changing the subject. "Has Barriss moved out yet?"

"About ten minutes ago General," Bly replied. "Don't worry she's in good hands."

"Of course she's in good hands, Galle's with her." Aayla replied with a pout, turning around to survey the thick alien jungle before her.

It happened suddenly. Her mind was assaulted by a mass of memories and emotions that were not hers. So many that it was impossible to filter them out, they were completely incoherent. Hands blurred up to hold onto her forehead. She let out a gasp, and then a startled cry as the psychic backlash continued its assault. A few images became clear.

_An entire continent plunged into war._

_A woman dying on a sidewalk, shoulder length hair of a strange pink, a hole in her chest from a powerful strike. She tried to speak, but her words were muted, lost._

_A young man, black hair, onyx eyes which turned crimson, was ramming a blade of blue electricity through a young woman's chest. Her long dark hair framed a pale round face, and pupil-less lavender eyes starred in shock at her killer as death took her._

_A city in ruins, buildings burning and streets littered with corpses._

_A man, hair black stretching down to the small of his back, pale white skin, purple pigment over his eyelids and eyes a sickly yellow with slit pupils._

_Ten figures, their faces hidden in shadows, dressed in long high collared black cloaks, red clouds adorning them. _

_A man, dressed in that same black cloak with red clouds. Face hidden beneath an orange mask, surface covered in a swirling pattern. The only visible portion of his face was an eye hole, a single crimson eye starring intently._

_A large animal, fur a blood red, nine tails writhing and twirling around it. It seemed to look right through her, and opened its mouth to release a terrible, silent scream._

_A young man, human, dark blonde hair, azure eyes, tanned skin, whisker like markings on his cheeks. He reached out to her with his right hand, mouth going through a set of silent words._

"_Find me!"_

Aayla awoke with a start, feeling a set of hands grip her shoulders and shake her. Slowly she opened her eyes to be met with Bly's worried face. His mouth moved, but she could not hear the words. They sounded as if they were being spoken in slow motion, just a mass of deep sounds. But slowly her senses returned to her, and she heard his voice much more clearly.

"General, damn it Aayla. Can you hear me!"

"Yes," She replied, voice a croak. "Yes Bly, I can hear you."

"Are you alright?" The commander asked, face set in a worried frown as he helped her into a sitting position. Had she blacked out? She didn't know, but judging by her commander's reaction she must have.

"I don't know," Aayla replied with a frown, right hand absently massaging her temple in a vain attempt to rid her of the lingering pain. "I think I had a vision, but it was strong, stronger than anything I've ever had before."

The commander nodded. He had been around Jedi enough to know when they were having visions. Usually when this happens he wondered about their mental health, but until now this never seemed to happen to Aayla before. "Should I call a medic?"

"No," Aayla replied, accepting his extended hand to help her get back to her feet. "It's nothing, I'll be fine."

"_Find me!"_

Her hand shot up to massage her forehead again. That voice, it was softer this time, but it was definitely the same voice she heard in her vision. She turned, ignoring Bly's worried glance to look over the alien Felucian forest. Mushroom shaped trees reaching up to the skyline, barren landscape occasionally broken by the shoots of smaller vegetation she did not recognise. Something in those woods was calling to her.

"Bly, can you take command for a moment?" She asked, knowing the answer before it left his mouth.

"Of course," Bly replied in an unsure voice.

"Then lead them to the rendezvous point." She ordered lightly, offering him a reassuring smile to try and negate his fears. Aayla should have known it would never work.

"I don't think I should leave you alone after such a…well, I don't know what it was."

She waved him off, "I'm fine now Bly, but something in this forest is calling out to me, and I don't think I'll get any rest until I find out what."

Bly studied her for a moment before sighing in defeat. The rest of them will have his balls on a hook for this. "Can I at least convince you to take a squad of ARC Troopers along?"

She gave him a cheeky grin. "They'll only slow me down."

"This could be a trap you know." Her friend spoke up, unwilling to concede just yet. "A Dark Jedi trying to separate you from us."

Aayla closed her eyes and concentrated, allowing the force to flow through her. She sent it out in the general direction of where the psychic whiplash originated. It wasn't evil. It wasn't of the dark side. In fact it was feint, and seemed more confused and scared than dangerous. "It's not a trap, and don't even think about rolling your eyes at me Bly. This isn't a trap."

"Very well, general," Bly relented, rolling his eyes anyway just to let her know his opinion. Even though he had his helmet on he could tell she knew by her half hearted glare. "But if you're not back by the end of the day I will send an ARC squad after you."

She smiled, before taking off in a force propelled leap, shouting back, "I wouldn't expect anything less!"

Bly shook his head, bemused, before turning back to the column of Republic troops, a single thought leaving his mind. "Maybe she should have left me one of her lightsabres."

* * *

Aayla jumped from the cliff ledge, skipped across a small series of branches, landed on the ground in a crouch and took off at a pace which would be impossible for any force-blind individual to duplicate. She rushed across the flatlands, slowing only to occasionally jump to navigate across any rocky outcrops or rolling hills.

After nearly fifteen minutes of running at a force augmented pace she came to a stop, tired and panting. A Jedi knight she may be, but such usage of the force was a little much for her. Aayla was no Anakin Skywalker, though she wished she had his stamina and strength on occasion. After a minute of catching her breath she began to wander through the suddenly dense undergrowth at a more sedate pace.

Felucia was known for its deadly wildlife, but she couldn't sense any dangerous predators in the immediate vicinity. Still she felt something powerful and foreboding. It was as if some influential creature was unleashing just a trickle of strength, keeping the other predators well out of range. Aayla didn't let this deter her though. The force was calling to her, almost demanding that she follow this signature, so she did.

Finally she pushed aside a last barrier of branches and foliage, coming to a clearing devoid of any plants or wildlife. It was just a barren spot of land, maybe twenty meters across with a single large mushroom shaped tree in its centre. She felt something about this plant. The force itself was coalescing around it like a shining beacon. Timidly the young Knight inspected the tree closer, and saw that its purplish trunk was hollowed out, a meter long sickle shaped slice the only way in. Curiously she peeked in, and gasped.

There was someone in there.

The slit was too narrow for her to squeeze through, so she reached for her hip where one of her dual lightsabres was clipped to her leather belt, and slowly drew the cylinder. She ignited the weapon, feeling the heat emanate from the azure blade before carefully cutting away at the opening.

Finally it was large enough for her to squeeze, and closing down the lightsabre she began to edge through. Like many females of her race Aayla had a lithe and slender build, meaning that she could force her way through narrow spaces easier with most others. Inside the hollowed trunk the forces influence increased tenfold, and she felt slightly light headed from the emanating power.

The inside was dark, the only light creeping through the still narrow slit. Deftly Aayla raised her right hand and concentrated, allowing the force to extend through her arm and create a soft white light on her fingertips. It was then that she saw what was inside the trunk. It was a human, a young man about her age, maybe a year or two younger. It was difficult to make out colours in the dark, but she could tell that his hair was light, his skin was tan and his clothes were colourful.

Slowly the young Jedi knelt to inspect the man. She checked the pulse point on his neck, and found that although weak it was still there. He was breathing, albeit his breathes were shallow and slightly ragged. Finally she checked this man with the force, and gasped as great warmth flowed over her, as if she had been submerged in a pool of warm water. The disturbance in the force was coming from him. All of that raw power was coming from him. It was like a burst dam.

She looked around, and knew she had to get him out of this tree. She needed more space to try and heal him. Aayla was not a healer. She was nowhere near as well trained as Barriss but she was good enough to deliver first aide. Quickly she stood, reignited her lightsabre and cut a much larger hole through the bark, easily large enough for her to drag this young human through. When that was done she grabbed a hold of his clothes and pulled. She cursed, he was quite heavy, and she wasn't physically strong thanks to her slender frame. In combat she relied more on her speed than brute force.

Finally she managed to drag him from the trunk, and gently set him down on the forest floor. She fell into a sitting position for a moment, silently trying to catch her breath. The humidity of the atmosphere, coupled with her fifteen minute force propelled run, and her efforts in dragging this young man to open ground had taxed her. She was covered in sweat, and her breath was leaving her in quick gasps. Her master was right. She definitely needed to train more.

As Aayla rested she took the time to study the human she had pulled from the tree. He was quite handsome. His hair was a shoulder length mass of dark blonde spikes, framing a rounded tanned face, two sets of whisker marks adorned his cheeks, giving him an air of the exotic about him. While she was dragging him out Aayla had gotten a good feel of his body under the clothes, and found that he was well muscled. She had seen him before, but where? The vision, this was the man from her vision.

His clothes were strange, a pair of dark green khaki pants and long sleeved jacket with a sleeveless, armoured combat vest over it. On his feet was a pair of black sandals and tied around his forehead was a headband of black cloth, the metal plate adorned with a mass of swirling lines which reminded her of a leaf. Over his clothes he wore a long trench coat, red with black flames on the cuffs and hem, and a massive scroll had been attached to the small of his back, which she had removed and set to the side before she set him down.

Taking another deep breath she kneeled beside him, and leaning down pressed the side of her head against his chest, hearing for his heart beat. There it was, beating a little slow but it didn't show any signs of convulsing. Releasing a breath she leaned back, and felt his pulse again. It was stronger than last time, and his breathing was becoming steady and continuous.

Suddenly a hand shot up, grabbing onto her slender wrist with an iron grip. She gasped under the pressure, and fearfully looked at his face to see his eyes open, beautiful azure orbs with slit pupils looked around manically before settling on her. They widened in confusion, and she guessed that he had never seen a Twi'lek before.

She tensed, expecting him to strike. It was not unusual for someone in his condition to unconsciously lash out. Instead of attacking her or panicking he smiled a sad smile and spoke in a voice that slowly got weaker with every word. "Well looks like my lucks improved. At least the angel they…sent for me…is… beautiful."

She blinked at his words as he passed out, and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. During and before the war she had undertaken many undercover missions for both the Jedi and the Republic, and had been on the receiving end of plenty of such comments. But the men from before were usually sleazy underworld mobsters, mercenaries, slavers or enemy soldiers looking for a quick romp. This man spoke as if he was dying. She frowned. Why did he believe he was dead? His life signs were all stabilizing at an impressive rate.

Reassured that the young man would be fine, and would awaken on his own in a few minutes, she sat down, crossed her legs and decided to meditate. Perhaps try and find an answer as to why the force had led her to this strange human. He was obviously force sensitive, as his very aura seemed like a beacon of energy to her senses. He didn't have the taint or heavy spiritual pressure of Dark Jedi or Sith.

A grunt of pain was her first indication that he was awake, and she opened her eyes to see this strange human sitting up, hand reaching up to rub his forehead. He didn't notice her, for his eyes were closed. "Damn it, never expected to get a hangover in the afterlife."

She frowned at his words. He really believed that he was dead. Slowly he started to get up, only to stagger when he made it to a knee, she moved to stop him with a worried glance, slender hands grabbing hold of his arm to anchor him. "Easy there, you've taken a bad knock."

The blonde flinched under her grasp, but she refused to remove her support, gently Aayla set him down into a lying position again. He tried to open his eyes, but the light was too much for them and he hastily shut them, groaning in pain. She smiled, "Open them slowly. That's it. There we go."

* * *

Slowly Naruto opened his eyes, flinching under the harsh sunlight but refusing to close them, blotches assaulted his sight and it took a minute for his eyes to adapt. He looked over at the woman kneeling beside him. Her voice carried a strange accent to it, almost enchanting to his hearing. But when he saw her he jumped in surprise.

She wasn't human. She was tall and slender, dressed in skin tight leather which left her stomach and arms bear, as well as giving him a nice view of some cleavage when she bent over to inspect him. Her skin was a dark shade of blue, cerulean maybe. A perfect face, full midnight blue lips, chocolate brown eyes, but the thing that surprised him the most was that instead of hair she had two long tails, extending down to the small of her back.

"Who are you…what are you?" Naruto asked as he flipped to his feet, a kunai flying into his grasp thanks to the wrist mounted storage device he held.

The woman in turn jumped back through what looked like a chakra propelled jump, and fell into a defensive stance, a slender right hand reaching for a cylindrical device on her left hip. She gripped it tightly, brought it forward and flipped a switch. A blade of pure blue energy came into existence with a _snap-hiss. _

Naruto frowned as he studied the weapon. He had never seen anything quite like it before, but he knew instinctively that it was deadly. He brought his kunai in front of him, falling into a defensive stance before this beautiful, yet strange alien creature.

"Please calm down." The woman seemed to plead in a strange, enchanting accent. "I do not wish to harm you!"

He watched as this strange ethereal creature came down in a crouch, shutting off her weapon and placing it on the ground. She stood up, took a few careful steps back and raised her hands in surrender. He looked at her for a moment, wondering what she was playing at, before nodding her head and copying her movement, setting his kunai on the ground.

"Look, lady," he said suddenly, hand reaching up to scratch the back of his hand as he gave her a sheepish smile. "You're not an angel by any chance, are you?"

She gave him a look, like she was wondering about his sanity. "Uh, no. Why do you ask?"

"So I guess that mean's I'm in hell?"

"Not that I'm aware off," she muttered, suddenly sounding a little offended. He flinched slightly, usually when he heard that tone with a girl he was on the short list to a good ass kicking. She made no such movements. He looked up, and azure eyes met dark chocolate. They stayed like that for the longest time. Two opponents sizing each other up, then the woman sighed and spoke in her richly accented voice.

"You were disoriented, confused." She explained. "I thought you were going to lash out at me."

Naruto didn't lax on his guard, he had been met with many over the years who said they wished him no harm yet tried to kill him anyway when he was within range. So he had a wind based Jutsu ready for deployment if she became hostile. Instead she did something that surprised him. She advanced until she was within two meters of him and then sat cross-legged on the ground, looking up at him imploringly.

Naruto starred at her for a long moment, before copying her gesture, sitting cross-legged on the ground two meters away from her yet remaining silent. Ever since the annihilation of Konoha he had been forced to learn many things about the outside world. But after a moment he took her form in again, eyes wide with the surprise and shock he felt when he saw her but a few moments ago.

The woman, definitely a woman, saw his widened eyes and shocked expression and smiled a little nervously. "I take it this is the first time you've seen someone like me before?"

He nodded dumbly. Ever since he had tamed the Kyubi no Yoko, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox he had seen some incredible and terrifying things. He knew there were other intelligent creatures in the world. Orochimaru's snakes, Tsunade's slugs, the Toads of Mount Myōboku, the demon fox clans who inhabited the dense forests of north Fire Country only to name a few. But he had never seen anything quite like her before. His younger self would have panicked, flailed his arms around and demanded what she was. Basically make a complete idiot out of himself. But with age came patience, and with age came the ability to control your emotions and keep your mouth shut.

"Uh, so who are you?" He asked at last, might as well start from the beginning.

She looked at him for a moment, "You first."

Naruto frowned at her, "I asked first."

The woman seemed to think for a moment. "I tell you what. I'll answer a question, and then you answer a question. Will that do?"

Naruto thought about it for a second, and shrugged, "Alright."

The woman smiled at him, and despite the situation he couldn't help but return it. "My name is Aayla Secura, Jedi knight."

"Strange name," He found himself saying. "And what is a Jedi Knight."

She raised a hand with a mischievous smile, index finger wiggling right and left "Ah, ah, I answered your question now you answer mine."

"Ah, Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, former Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato," She starred at him for a moment, before bringing her hand up to her mouth, covering it as she giggled.

"And you said my name was strange?" She started, before her features fell into a thoughtful expression.

"Hey,"

"Alright, you're turn."

"I don't want to be rude." He started, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "But what are you?"

She smiled, placing a hand against her chest. "I am a Twi'lek, native to the planet Ryloth in the Outer-rim Territories."

Naruto blinked, both confused and bewildered by her answer, which left far more questions than answers. "Twi'lek, Ryloth, Outer-rim…What are you talking about."

"You've never heard of any of this before?" Aayla asked, genuinely surprised, unless he was teasing her. Almost everyone knew this information, besides Humans Twi'leks were one of the most wide spread races in the galaxy. There were populations of her people located on thousandss of planets from the Core worlds to the furthest reaches of the Outer-rim. Her people were nowhere near as widespread as the humans, but she had thought that almost every being in the galaxy had at least heard of them.

"Nope, first time hearing any of this." Naruto answered a little sheepishly. This only cemented his opinion that he was not in the deserts of Suna anymore. In fact he had never seen anything remotely like the mushroom shaped trees surrounding them.

He knew that the collection of seals Madara used to destroy him were unstable. In fact many seal masters had surmised that mixing two such high powered Fuinjutsu would be too dangerous to even try, not even Orochimaru was mad enough to attempt it. Then again the blonde had always wondered about the Uchiha's sanity, after all what right thinking individual would think colliding the moon with the earth was a good idea?

Maybe the combined seals were not an explosive like he thought. Perhaps they created some kind of dimensional shift, throwing him from one reality to another. Alternate realities were theoretically possible. A stone in a stream created ripples. A different choice would lead someone on a new path.

"If I remember the rules of this little session then you've already taken your turn."

She frowned at him, "No, I haven't."

"Yes, you have," Naruto pointed out with a mischievous smile. "You asked me if I've ever heard of your people or whatever else you were talking about, so it's my turn."

She glared at him for a moment, before sighing in defeat and waving him to continue. "What is a Jedi Knight?"

"A Jedi Knight is a rank for Jedi in the Jedi Order. When an apprentice, or Padawan learner is considered ready in the eyes of his or her master they would go through a set of trials, and if they passed they were given the rank of knight." Aayla explained, seeing understanding in the blonde human's eyes.

"Ah, and what is the Jedi Order?" Naruto asked. He guessed these Jedi were some sort of warrior organisation, like the Shinobi from back home, and a Knight was considered a similar rank to a Chunin level Shinobi.

Aayla raised a delicate eyebrow, the only sign of hair on her body, he thought. "It's my turn."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry, sorry. Go ahead."

"What is a Jonin?"

"It's a rank of warrior in the village I was originally from. Jonin is short for High Ninja, or High Shinobi. It is one of the highest ranks, and those who carry it are considered elite warriors." Naruto answered.

The Twi'lek frowned a little, but nodded, allowing him to take the next question. "What is the Jedi Order?"

* * *

Bly frowned as he looked over the expansive forest from the cliff face. The column had been on the move for an hour before the weather took a turn for the worst. It started off as an increased humid breeze, then suddenly and with very little warning it began to rain. The rain was sudden and torrential, freezing cold drops of water pelting his armoured suit.

God how he hated this planet, Felucia was a world of unpredictable weather. It could be hot and humid, with no sign of rain for weeks or even months. A rain storm could come suddenly, usually only lasting an hour or two, but on the rare occasion it could last days, and become so heavy that it would kick up vast masses of mist. The Commander had been on this hellhole for a month, and he still hadn't figured out this jungle worlds weather patterns, he wasn't even sure what season it was.

Soon the pelting rain was joined by jagged strikes of lightning and near deafening crackles of thunder. Before long the ground was soaked, and slowly becoming a quagmire. His troops and machines were slugging through it, but it was a slow and arduous pace. If the Separatists took the initiative and attacked them now they would be at a disadvantage. Eventually he called for the column to halt and weather it out. The offensive against the Separatist holdings had to be put on indefinite hold.

Scouts were sent into the forest to keep watch for either Separatist forces, or their wayward General. He had not heard from Secura since she had taken off into the jungles, and he was becoming worried. Bly had tried to raise her on her personal communicator, but something in this storm was jamming communications, and all he had received was static. He couldn't even contact Commander Offee and the ARC Troopers he sent ahead. They were on their own too.

"Commander," He turned to see one of his ARC Captains, Briggs, standing behind him, fully garbed in his Advanced Recon armour, complete with red stripes along the helm, arms and legs and dual blaster pistols holstered to his hip. Standing behind him was a line of four ARC Troopers, the blue stripes representing their rank as lieutenants, hands holding the compact, scoped WESTAR-M5 blaster rifles. "It's been half a day and she's not back yet. Do we have your leave?"

Bly frowned for a moment, before nodding his head in agreement. "Go. Bring her back before the storm ends."

"Yes, sir," The Captain replied, and with a nod to his men took off into the hazy Felucian jungle.

* * *

The storm had come suddenly and without warning, drenching her and her strange companion from head to toe before they were able to find shade under one of the larger mushroom shaped trees. Slowly the storm got worse, and a light mist was starting to take shape, making visibility less than twenty meters.

Aayla sneezed, and began to rub her sides with her hands in a desperate attempt to get warm. The raindrops that hit her skin were freezing cold. She let out a breath which became mist, and was just able to stop her teeth from clattering. Her leather clothes were soaked, meshing against her form and making her feel naked. Her skin was glistening from the rain water, like she had been unceremoniously dunked into a pool. Funny how barely an hour ago it was boiling and now it was as cold as arctic tundra.

She spared a glance at her companion. He was soaked to the bone but didn't seem to care. His head was raised, azure eyes taking in the sudden dark storm clouds which blocked out the alien sun overhead. Water dripped from the edges of his blonde spikes in rivulets, matting them against his head, and continued to run down his face.

"Come on," Naruto's voice surprised her, and she turned to see him half way inside the trunk of the tree, using the opening she cut just a few minutes before. "It's freezing out here. At least in here we can stay dry."

She nodded, followed him in and sat down at the other side of the tree, watching him set his huge scroll against the wall and lean against it, eyes closed as if he were about to fall asleep. She wasn't fooled though. A crackle of thunder seemed to explode from overhead, and she noticed him flinch ever so slightly. It seemed Naruto was a little afraid of thunderstorms.

Aayla shook herself, sending droplets of water flying from her glistening form before leaning against the wall and closing her eyes. She felt cold, tired and weary. Wishing that she had more clothes with her than what she had. She should have listened to Barriss, going on and on about wearing a cloak or putting on some of the modified armour Bly made for her.

Suddenly she felt a weight on her, and creaked open an eye to see Naruto's trench coat draped over her like a blanket. Naruto was kneeling beside her, looking at her for a moment before standing and walking back to his place at the other side of the trunk. She smiled at the small gesture. So he was a gentleman. Unconsciously she curled up, wrapping the coat around her, and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

* * *

She must have been tired. Barely a minute after he covered her with his coat Naruto heard the light steady breathes, telling him that Aayla had fallen asleep. He wasn't surprised. When he awoke she had looked tired. He saw bags under her eyes, and weariness in her gaze which meant that she hadn't slept well in a long time.

Naruto looked through the opening, saw the storm worsen and heard the continuous pelting of the rain. He sighed, wasn't going anywhere in a hurry. Even he wasn't crazy enough to leave this shelter in the middle of such a storm. It made the ones he went through in Konoha look like pretty descent weather.

Resigned that he was stuck here he decided to study this strange alien woman across from him. There wasn't a lot of room in the trunk, and their feet were nearly touching. He had to admit that she was very beautiful, even if he had never seen anything quite like her before. What had Aayla called herself? Ah yes a Twi'lek.

Her face, relaxed in the bliss of sleep was serene and beautiful, not a single blemish on her cerulean skin. Her mouth was partly opened, showing a glance of her white upper teeth. She snored, but it was soft and soothing, mainly breathe exhaling and inhaling from her mouth. She was very slender, with long legs which seemed to stretch for an eternity, a flat stomach, flawless complexion and a pair of mounds which seemed a little over a handful. He sighed, shaking the thoughts from his head. The skin tight leather she wore left little to the imagination, but somehow he was still able to conjure it up. He half heartedly cursed his deceased teacher for partially corrupting him.

Naruto stayed up most of the night, keeping watch, watching the rise and fall of her chest and listening to the soft sounds she made in her sleep. She was mesmerizing to look at, and he bet Jiraiya, god rest his soul, would have tried to recruit her for his research once he got over the initial shock. He chuckled at the thought.

Eventually the rain stopped, and after a moment to make sure that the storm had truly ended he stood and made his way back out into the open. The sun was peeking through the slowly dispersing dark clouds and it looked like it was going to be a hot day.

* * *

When Aayla awoke the sun was creeping through the opening and the continuous pelting of the rain was gone. She sat up, wiping the gum from her eyes before stretching her muscles. Aayla was surprised by how tired she had to be to fall asleep like that, and chided herself for knocking herself out in the presence of a man she did not know. For all she knew he was a Separatist spy.

She stood, folding Naruto's long coat as she walked over to the opening and peeked outside. There he was in the middle of the clearing. Aayla noted the katana in his hand, his stance and the way he carried it. He had stripped down to his pants and a black shirt and for the first time Aayla took in his physique. The muscles were lean, telling her they were gained through hard work instead of the sterile environment of a gym. He was sweating from his exertions, the odd trickle flying from his hair and skin every time he made a sudden move. Naruto had been training for a while.

He was obviously a practitioner of sword-fighting, something which outside of Force organisations like the Jedi or Sith was quite rare. She watched him begin a set of forms, movements graceful and light like a dancer. He spun, ducked, and danced as if he were fighting an invisible foe, his sword swishing and blurring in a series of slashes, stabs and strokes which were done with such finesse she considered he would be a match to quite a few Jedi Battle-Masters.

Gently she stepped through the opening, and sat down, content to watch him go through the forms of his sword art. It was an art she was unfamiliar with, and was intrigued as she watched him go through the stances with ease born of practise. Finally he stopped, finishing his form and sheathing his sword in a quick motion. He was panting heavily, but he was smiling.

"Did you rest well?"

"Yes, thank you for the coat."She smiled as he approached her, telekinetically grasping the towel hanging from a branch beside her and sending it drifting towards him. Naruto caught it with ease, and looked at her with a wry smile. He was confused about something though.

"That's an interesting ability."

"I'm a telekinetic." She explained as she rose to her feet, studying him.

"I've heard of those. You can move things with your mind." He said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Yes," Aayla replied, still noticing that something was wrong. He wasn't very good at hiding it. She doubted those expressive blue eyes could hide anything. But underneath she felt a maelstrom of confusion and uncertainty. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, a little guardedly.

"I'm also an empath." Aayla explained, and upon his slightly confused look she sighed. "It means I can also read emotions. You feel troubled."

He sighed, and it took a moment of silence before he answered. Aayla had only known the man for a few hours, and the questions and answers session they shared only added more, well, questions than answers. But she felt through the force that he was a good man, strong and brave, with good intentions to anyone who met him. But she also felt that he had been hurt badly in his life, not physically but emotionally.

"I just…everything is so confusing to me right now. I'm guessing that I'm not on my home world anymore, yet I don't know where to look or even if it exists. I suppose…I suppose I can say that I'm scared." He chuckled sadly, "Nah, scared isn't the right word. I'm terrified."

"You're in a strange place, with people you have never met from races you've never seen," Aayla spoke up, her voice soft as she rose to her feet and walked over to him. "Everything around you is of the unknown, and it terrifies you…am I right?"

He looked nervous, almost like he was about to bolt, but nodded his head.

"I'm not going to lie to you Naruto," She continued, placing a hand on his broad shoulder. He was a full head taller than her, which was rare considering she was quite tall herself. "There will be much out there you will not understand, and it will frighten you. But I'll make you a promise. I'll stay with you, be your guide and help you find a way home. Okay?"

He nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. "Thank you Aayla."

She grinned, "You're welcome."

Her head suddenly darted to the right, just as a group of individuals came through the thick underbrush, wearing some kind of white armour, coloured stripes adorning the surface. One, with crimson stripes on his helm and arms stepped forward, and saluted sharply. "There you are ma'am. You had us worried there for a moment."

"Captain Briggs," Aayla greeted with a smile and a nod, before looking ever so slightly guilty. "I'm sorry; I sent you and your men on a wild chase didn't I?"

The Captain nodded, before his helm turned to Naruto's direction. "And who is this?"

"He's that disturbance I decided to look in on." Aayla replied, "Don't worry he's not a Separatist spy. Just a young man a long way from home."

"Very well, General," Briggs answered, he was obviously not convinced but was going to follow his commanding officers orders. "I'll just tell the Commander you're alright."

Aayla nodded, before turning back to Naruto, "Let's go get your stuff."

Naruto nodded, turning around and allowing his new acquaintance to lead the way back to their tree. Within a minute he had picked up his summoning scroll and was being escorted back by this strange woman and her elite ARC Troopers. It was all kind of surreal. These men, their armour, their weapons were all alien to him. He wondered how these black objects could be dangerous, there were no blades or any sealed tags on them.

Maybe this was because he was a Shinobi, and his kind fought in the shadows and on high ground, attacking from different angles and striking from the most obscure places. He didn't bother to look at a regular army and how they fought and deployed. Shinobi fought their own wars, their own battles.

He heard a small whistling noise, and turned his head to the Captain. Noticing him sling his weapon and reaching into his loincloth, pulling out a small disc shaped object and flicking a switch. A small figure appeared, maybe between ten and twenty millimetres in height. It reminded him of that holographic Jutsu the Akatsuki used to remain in contact.

The figure spoke, voice raspy. _"Execute Order 66."_

"It will be done milord."

Naruto suddenly felt a very bad feeling settle at the pit of his stomach. Unconsciously he reached for his right thigh pouch, pulling out a couple of kunai and imbuing them with wind chakra just as the soldier deactivated his disc and un-slung his weapon. Briggs walked back in line, shared a look with his fellow troopers and calmly nodded his head. As one all five un-slung their weapons and held them at the ready. Pointing them at Aayla's back.

"Watch out!"

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make no claim to them and I make nothing from publishing this story. It's all fanfiction folks.

_**Author's Note 2: **_I've got this story written out until Chapter 4, I've half way written chapter 5, but might have to start from scratch, so there will be weekly updates until then. After that the updates may slow down a bit. I hope not but they might, so keep reading and reviewing, and if anyone has any advice for me just let me know.

Thanks everyone

Darth Malleus


	3. The Devil's Order

_**Chapter 2**_

_**The Devil's Order**_

_**Latest Holonet News**_

_**Supreme Chancellor Survives Jedi Assassination**_

_It has just been reported today that the Jedi, in a despicable act, had attempted to assassinate our beloved Chancellor. Four Jedi Masters, all members of the Jedi High Council, led the assault on the Galactic Senate. The Jedi council's second chair, Mace Windu, was identified as the leader of this unprecedented attempt on the Galactic Republic leadership!_

_With this failed assassination attempt, new evidence has come to light that the Jedi Order were planning a coup with the Separatists against the Republic. In light of this evidence Chancellor Palpatine places executive Order 66 into effect. All Jedi are hereby considered traitors of the Galactic Republic and are to be apprehended by any means necessary._

_**The Beginning of a New Era**_

_In light of the Jedi rebellion and the continued threat of the Separatists it was decided in a landslide vote that the Galactic Republic is to be reformed into the first Galactic Empire for continued stability and peace within the galaxy. Beloved leader Chancellor Dantius Palpatine was unanimously elected as the first Galactic Emperor.

* * *

_

"_Watch out!"_

Naruto moved with speed, diving through the air and colliding with the Jedi knight, sending the two of them sprawled on the forest floor in a heap. He heard several strange pangs and saw streaks of crimson light flash past the spot where Aayla stood just a moment ago. It didn't matter that those weapons didn't have blades, they were deadly.

Aayla flipped to her feet. That strange energy sword igniting in her hands just in time to block a handful of those crimson streaks, sending a few back at the men who were firing them. Naruto didn't quite get what was going on, but he knew which side of the field he was on. Quickly the blonde threw his wind imbued kunai, watching with some grim satisfaction as one pierced right into an ARC Troopers throat, sending blood spattering across the ground.

The remaining four began to spread out, their focus still on his comrade as she continued to deflect those strange energy blasts. They were going to try and catch her in a crossfire, hoping that they're weapons would overwhelm her defences. Naruto could tell that she was confused, and his suspicion was proven when she spoke.

"Captain, what is the meaning of this?"

Briggs didn't answer, instead he fired another volley at the Jedi knight, forcing her to take a step back as she continued to block with her blue energy sword. They had almost completely forgotten about Naruto, probably thought his kunai was one of their crimson bolts deflected back at the user. That would be their last mistake.

Still crouched he brought his hands together in a cross shaped sign, and taking a deep breath surged his chakra, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

There was an explosion of white smoke, and before the ARC Troopers knew it they found themselves surrounded by twenty perfect clones of him. The Shadow Clones didn't wait for the smoke to disperse, and threw themselves into the battle, katana and kunai drawn and ready to attack. These soldiers were well trained though, and with almost lightning fast reflexes spun around and fired full salvoes of crimson energy into the throng of clones, taking out five before the rest began jumping in chakra propelled leaps, rushing across the tree trunks and tossing a small cloud of kunai and shuriken.

An ARC fell back, blood gushing from a kunai imbedded in his neck. Another stumbled as several shuriken dug into his breast plate, but failed to puncture the armour. He shrugged it off and bringing his weapon up began firing again. Two more clones exploded in puffs of white smoke, the crimson lances piercing them. Naruto grit his teeth, he needed to get closer, needed to turn this fight into one of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu.

Aayla flew forward, lightsabre in hand, ducking under the Captain's weapon and neatly cut the barrel in half. The officer stumbled back, and the Jedi took full advantage, fluidly coming forward to separate his head from his shoulders. The helm flew far into the forest, vanishing from sight. Three down, two to go.

A million questions threatened to overtake her mind as she fought. Chief among them was why had her own soldiers turned against her like this. What the hell could have happened for an elite ARC team to suddenly turn on her? Then there was Naruto, who had just shown a number of abilities she had never heard off before. This man, this young man had just shown that he could kill an elite ARC Trooper with nothing more than a throwing knife and had created nearly twenty illusions of himself to combat the forces against him.

It wasn't his usage of the force, it felt like something deeper, tied to his own body like a second energy. He had called upon it, and created this mass of illusions to confront her now turncoat troopers. Only advanced masters could use the force in such a way, if he was even using the force at all. Then she watched as the last ten fell on the clones, and plunged kunai and shuriken into their bodies. Her breathe caught in her float. Those were not illusions. They were solid, deadly clones. Not even advanced Masters of the force were capable of such feats.

The ten copies stood up, leaving the ARC Troopers unmoving on the forest floor. There was an explosion of white smoke as the clones dispelled, leaving only the original Naruto standing in the middle of a circle of corpses. He approached her, sheathing his katana into the sheath at the small of his back. "What the hell was that?"

She shook her head, eyes refusing to leave Brigg's headless body. "I have no idea."

"The Captain got a message," Naruto said as he came within a few feet of the Jedi Knight, "A figure dressed in a black robe told him to execute Order 66."

"Order 66," Aayla repeated the word with a frown. She had never heard of such an order, but the words left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was this an isolated incident, just a squad of turncoats trying to assassinate her? Or was this happening in other places as well, what about Barriss and the three Padawans?

She exploded into motion with force propelled speed, shooting across the clearing and into the trees in a blur. Naruto starred after her, frowning, before he gathered the chakra into the soles of his feet and took off after her. He jumped high, landing on a branch and took off after her from the tree branches. Aayla was fast, and he doubted he would have been able to keep up if he was running on the ground.

She ran for ten, maybe twenty minutes through the underbrush before coming to a clearing, skidding to a halt in the last line of trees before looking over the clear expanse. She knew her fellow Knight was here. Aayla had been friends with the younger woman since they were both Padawans in the temple and had memorized her signature in the force. Naruto dropped down beside her as Aayla leaned forward, put her hands on her knees and took several breaths.

Barriss stood several meters ahead of a small line of regular Clone Troopers, the huge hulking form of an AT-RT slowly advancing through the wilderness. At the young Knights feet was the sparking wreckage of a dozen Battle Droids, her green bladed lightsabre lit and held in her right hand. She smiled. Maybe it was an isolated incident after all. Why would their own soldiers turn on them for no reason?

She raised her hand and started to wave to her friend, calling out her name to get her attention, "Barriss!"

The woman turned, dark eyes studying the expanse of forest. Barriss saw her, smiled and made to move towards her. Naruto caught a round face of tanned skin, dark markings on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, her hair was black and shoulder length. He mused for a moment if all women in the Jedi Order were beautiful.

It happened in a blur. One moment her friend was walking towards her, closing down her lightsabre. The next she disappeared in an explosion of flame, her body encompassed by wild fire as the main gun of the AT-RT fired on her. Aayla looked on, eyes wide in horror as her friends life vanished from the force.

"No," she whispered, taking a step back and stumbling. Naruto looked on with the same horror as the Twi'lek Jedi beside him. The sound of a snap, followed by a hiss brought his attention back to the real world, and he saw Aayla with an ignited lightsabre in her hand and anger in her eyes. The line of soldiers saw them and opened fire with their weapons, pelting the tree line with a storm of crimson lances. The gun on the back of the four-legged artillery tank swivelled round in their direction.

Naruto acted on instinct, he grabbed Aayla before she charged and ran back into the forest as fast as he could, ignoring the zings of energy which soared past, leaving burn marks on the trees and rocks all around him. Aayla struggled against him at first, but eventually relented and allowed him to drag her away. He ran with chakra enhanced speed for a handful of moments, and only stopped when he no longer heard the zings and dings of weapons fire.

He turned to find himself tackled to the ground, hitting the dirt hard, the breath exploding from his lungs as he was straddled. He heard the continuous hum, felt the harsh heat and looked at the tip of the Jedi Knights lightsabre. Aayla glared menacingly down at him with clouded over eyes, breath coming and going in heated, angry pants. Her voice filtered into his hearing, harsh yet hoarse, "Why did you stop me!"

Naruto fought for breath as he spoke, azure eyes not leaving her violent chocolate. "If you ran out there then you would have been as good as dead!"

"I would have handled it!" she roared angrily.

"No you wouldn't," he shouted back, taking in a last gulp of air before continuing. "You would have been gunned down just like Barriss was!"

They heard voices coming from the direction they came, and knew that the company of troopers were giving chase through the forest. Aayla jumped up, lightsabre at the ready to fight, but Naruto jumped up with her, grabbing her shoulder and making her look into his eyes. There was a storm of emotion brewing in those dark orbs, pain, disbelief, anger and betrayal and it threatened to tear her apart.

"You can't fight them," he said, voice soft yet carrying a hint of steel behind it. "If you go against them the way you are now then you will die! You will take a fair lot of them with you, but you will die, and then who would be left who knows the truth! Do you think Barriss would want you to rush off to your own death like this!"

She glared at him for a handful of heartbeats before violently shaking her head, "She was right there." Her voice was a whisper, but when she looked at him again all the betrayal and anger was replaced with grief. Her friend had been incinerated right before her eyes. "She was right in front of me and I couldn't do a thing about it!" Her head darted to the right suddenly, "The Padawans."

Naruto knew from his discussion with her that Padawans were considered apprentices within the ranks of the Jedi, and caught her attention before she went running into the forests again. The turncoats were still a good way away from them. "Where are they?"

Her head snapped round to look at him, and taking a deep breath to calm herself Aayla spoke. "They were leading a company to a Separatist communications outpost, some five clicks to the east."

Naruto nodded, and offered a brave smile. "Let's go get them then."

She nodded and the two took off into the jungle at near superhuman speeds. Aayla gathering the force to blur through the underbrush while Naruto jumped to the treetops in a chakra propelled leap and began skipping from branch to branch to keep up with her. They left the advancing line of soldiers behind with minimal effort.

Jedi and Shinobi ran through the forest at high speed, not stopping or faltering for the entire journey to their destination. Naruto was the first to see the outpost, a large structure of dark metal reaching up through the forest, a large dish of some description rested on the flat roof, reaching up to the sky. It was imbedded in an outcropping of rock, the only entrance being a set of doors in the middle of a clearing. He came to a stop on the second last line of trees, Aayla landing beside him and together the two watched the activity below.

There were at least thirty Clone Troopers in the clearing. Twenty were scouring around, picking up the remains of Separatist battle droids and throwing them into a pile in the centre of the clearing. Another ten were standing in a line at attention before the entrance of the communications outpost. It looked like a deadly number of soldiers for only two combatants.

Aayla didn't think so. She jumped from the branch, lightsabre activating in her hands as she flew through the air. She had easily jumped twenty, maybe thirty meters across the clearing. She brought her lightsabre down as she fell and cleaved a clone in half. She then spun around, a second lightsabre igniting in her free hand as she danced and spun, striking down clone after clone with lethal accuracy.

Six of the nine guards had fallen to her blades before the other twenty realised what was going on, and the last three were taken down as they went for their weapons. It was just as the first raised them for the Jedi that a voice echoed through the air, _"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

The twenty troopers turned to the noise just in time to see a huge cloud of smoke descend on the entire northern line of trees, and exploding through the smog were hundreds of Naruto's, all running towards the surprised Clone Troopers, katana and kunai drawn like a horde of warriors from the ancient stories. Aayla barely gave it a glance, all she cared about was getting to the Padawan's before the clones did.

The Jedi Knight stood before the sealed doors and with the force forced them open with a snap as locks were broken and a mechanical whine as the blast doors were pushed aside. She walked into the main chamber of the outpost, and was immediately forced to deflect blaster bolts as a squad of nine Clone Troopers opened fire. Aayla did not hesitate. She spun her twin lightsabres, one blue the other green in a protective veil in front of her, deflecting every bolt and despatching the Clones with quick and precise strikes.

She walked calmly yet cautiously, the darkened corridors illuminated by the dim multicoloured light emitted from her lightsabres. Another squad of Clones rounded the corner, three falling on their knees and aiming their blasters while the other three stood behind them, creating two lines of blaster rifles. Aayla reached out with the force and sent the entire squad sprawling with a telekinetic push. The first line of three slammed into the second, sending all six slamming into the durasteel wall. The three behind hit the wall with a crack before they were flattened by the first line. The first line stumbled forward in a daze only to be cut down by her two lightsabres.

She broke off into a run as she rounded the corner, blades spinning as she cut down another clone, then another, and another as she ran. By the time she reached the main com chamber she had left a trail of dead and dying Clone Troopers in her wake. She entered without hesitation and looked at the carnage within. Score marks covered the walls and the intense smell of ozone was ripe in the air.

The first Padawan she saw was Ekria, lying against the main communications console, blaster burns on her back. The computer slicer must have been seated on the com console when the Clones burst in and shot her. The other two, Zondar and Barriss's own apprentice Drake Lo'gaan looked like they made a better fight of it. Zondar lay face down on the floor, the bodies of three Clones surrounding him. The Selonian was slumped against the wall, chest burned through with first degree burns, lightsabre just out of his reach.

They were dead, all three of them. Aayla stumbled back as she surveyed their bodies, suddenly wishing that this was all a bad dream. Barriss wasn't dead, the Padawans weren't dead. The world wasn't falling apart around her. This was all a nightmare she would wake up from.

She heard the stomping of footfalls and spun around to see Galle firing his blaster. She tried to move, but was too late as the crimson bolt struck her in the stomach. Aayla hissed in pain, smelling the burning of her flesh as the momentum sent her spinning around before hitting the floor hard, lightsabres flying from her grasp.

She gripped the burning flesh of her abdomen, gritting her teeth against the pain. Aayla looked up to see the Clone Commander towering over her, blaster pistol drawn and aimed for her head. She looked up at him, eyes full of a mass of emotions. She knew it was futile, but she did it anyway. Her voice was on the verge of breaking as she looked at the emotionless helmet of a man she would have trusted her life with. "Why?"

The clone spoke, voice distorted by his helmets speaker. "Nothing personal General, just orders,"

Suddenly Naruto was there, grabbing the Commanders arm and pulling him around to face him. The blonde glared at the white armoured soldier before slamming a ball of condensed, spiralling blue energy into his abdomen. Aayla looked at the energy, and besides her pain she couldn't believe her eyes. It was the force given substance, the boys own interior reserves of energy feeding the attack.

"_Rasengan,"_

The armour struck by the ball cracked and caved in, and an explosion of spiralling wind threw Galle back against the far wall of the chamber, slamming into it with enough force to leave a crater in the durasteel. The power behind it was enough to break bones and sever cartilage, yet the Commander was dragging himself slowly to his feet. Naruto didn't miss a beat, walking towards the Clone, drawing his katana and ending his opponent's life in a quick swing, severing Galle's head from his shoulders. The blonde flicked his blade, sending blood spattering across the pristine floor before sheathing it in a smooth motion.

He was at her side in a heartbeat, quickly wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the floor. "We need to go now."

He knew she had lost consciousness when he rushed out the door and down the corridor, ignoring the crumpled bodies of soldiers that littered the floor. The blonde knew more would be coming. He didn't know how he knew but deep down he knew. Naruto also knew, deep down that he would not be able to outrun them at his current speed. He had used up a great deal of his chakra when he called up an army of hundreds of _Kage Bunshin_, add to that him travelling across nearly fifty kilometres worth of terrain, forming a Rasengan and fighting off a small army of enemy soldiers he was nearly spent.

There were two abilities in his arsenal that he could use. One was to call upon the powers of his tenant. He had fully mastered the fox's chakra thanks to his mother, god bless her soul. The other was to call upon his Sage mode, but that would tax his chakra to the point of exhaustion. "Fox's chakra it is then."

He called upon it. The warmth started in his belly, and then exploded out across his entire body. Within moments he was encompassed by his fully formed cloak of electric blue energy, black runes and seals appearing along his arms and chest. The cloak flared as he took off in a blur of speed, flying down the corridors with the only sign of his passage being a yellow flash.

He exploded from the entrance and vanished into the trees at speeds no human being could possibly match. To the assembling Clone Troopers all they saw was a blur of crimson shoot past them, followed by a mass of dust which blinded their vision.

To Naruto the trees blurred by him, becoming nothing more than an almost inconceivable mass of merging colours. He didn't know how long he kept running until he felt the life in his arms begin to dim. He looked down to see the woman terribly pale, blood dribbling from the sides of her mouth from internal bleeding.

She was dying.

He skidded to a halt, and willed the cloak of demonic energy to recede. Gently he set her down on the ground and immediately brought his hands together over the burn, ignoring her whimper of pain. He concentrated the chakra like he was taught and his hands slowly took on a soothing green glow. What he saw worried him. It wasn't just the first degree burns on her skin, but her organs, primarily her stomach and kidneys were also badly burned and bleeding, another inch and they would have been liquidised.

What kind of weapon could do such a thing? "Come on, don't you dare die on me. You promised you'd help me get back didn't you!"

He poured his healing chakra into the wounds, and found that even though they were healing it would be too little too late to save her. Naruto grit his teeth, no matter how hard he tried everyone who tried to help him died. Sakura, Hinata, Kakashi, Tsunade, Kirabi, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Yamato to only name a few. The list went on. They all died and he was powerless. Now here was a woman who had found him in the middle of an alien forest, who kept him calm and promised to help him, and here she was, dying in his arms and he was powerless.

There was only one option. "Okay, concentrate my chakra, direct it to where it's needed the most**!"**

The warm light slowly spread across his arms, through his hands and into Aayla's wound. He watched with a grim determination as instead of harming her further it began to heal. The horrific burns on her kidneys and stomach lessened, blood vessels reattached, the bleeding stopped.

He felt the light which was her life slowly brighten again. Quickly he picked Aayla off the ground and, cradling her in his arms began running through the forest again, away from the army that wanted to kill her, and by extension him.

* * *

_He rushed through the forests, trying to ignore the blaster bolts as they zoomed past him, impacting all around him. The Jedi grimaced. He had been running for hours. The Clones had turned on them, betrayed them. He had felt Master Unduli die, had felt countless Jedi across the galaxy die. He had felt his apprentice vanish through the force._

_Avenge Aayla…mourn Aayla._

_A blaster bolt struck the tree bark beside him, barely a few inches from his head. His pursuers had not relented. He had been able to whittle down their numbers with traps, but they continued on. He should not be surprised. These were ARC Troopers, the elite commando forces of the Grand Army of the Republic. _

_Now only one remained, one last ARC Trooper. If only he had more strength he could take him, but he was hurting. The blast which should have killed him didn't, instead leaving him badly burned but still alive, and still mobile. He jumped high, landing on a tree branch and fading into the shadows. Watching as his last living pursuer came within his vision. The Captain of the unit sent to eliminate him._

"_Games over Jedi," he called over the silence, "Show yourself and die quick and painless, or I call in an airstrike, and not just you but the village nearby will all die. It's your call!"_

_He cursed, disbelieving that he had ever trusted this man. He could probably escape, but the Wookie population would be massacred. He made his decision, and withdrew his lightsabre. The Clone was within range, just one more step. With a roar he ignited his lightsabre and jumped._

_The Commander looked up and, raising his blaster fired._

Aayla awoke with a start, sitting up and wincing at the pain. She was breathing heavily, exposed skin covered in sweat. The Knight placed a hand against her chest, and took several deep, calming breaths to bring herself under control. After one last breath she looked around, seeing that she was inside some kind of tent. Her abdomen had been bandaged and her lightsabres were set in a corner nearby.

She looked around in confusion, before her memories caught up with her. Barriss vanishing in a ball of fire, Ekria and her fellow Padawans massacred by their own troopers, herself turned on by the ARC Troopers sent to retrieve her. She grasped onto her knees and laid her chin against them, a single tear running down her cheek. This was not an isolated incident. Somehow she knew it in her heart.

Suddenly the galaxy felt like a darker place.

"Your awake." She looked up to see a familiar head of blonde hair and was relieved when she saw Naruto poking his head through the opening to the outside, he smiled, "Thank the Sage. You were touch and go for a while."

"Naruto," she said his name with a little relief, "Where are we?"

"Deep within the forests," the blonde replied, "I must have run for hours. Don't worry we're at least a hundred kilometres from the battle site. I doubt they'll look this far."

She realised that she was not within a tent, but a hollowed out tree, just like the one she had found him in. "How long have I been out?"

He looked her in the eyes, "About two days. You were really badly hurt Aayla. It was pure luck I remembered those silly healing Jutsu Granny and Sakura taught me, otherwise you wouldn't have survived."

"Is that what you call those abilities?" She asked. Her memory of what he did slowly returning to her. "Naruto you made over a hundred solid copies of yourself, you annihilated an entire company of battle hardened Clone Troopers, you created a solid attack of force energy without calling upon the dark side. What are you!"

He had the gall to look sheepish, "You took out a third of their number yourself, so I couldn't take all the credit. As for the clones it was more like two hundred, but hey who's counting, and that ball of energy is a pretty well known attack for people in my line of work."

"And who are people of your line of work," she asked incredulously.

He laughed without humour, "A people who were ruthlessly destroying themselves. Come out when you're ready."

He hopped through the opening then, leaving the young Jedi alone with her thoughts. She once again leaned against the bark, drawing her legs up and resting her head against her knees. This was not an isolated incident. When she was fighting against the Clones she had felt more than just Barriss' death, hers was just the closest. There were other deaths, lives of people she knew, fellow Jedi, their familiar auras winking out one at a time.

The deaths she felt, the lives that winked from existence hit her like a slap to the face, again, and again, and again. Every death of a friend, of a loved one had hit her, and when she had reached the outpost, saw the Clones, and thought of the Padawans she snapped. She had seen red when she jumped from the tree branch, lightsabre igniting.

She had roared a guttural shriek full of the burning emotions of betrayal, pain and grief. At that moment, as she hit the ground and cut down Clone Troopers left and right she had touched the dark side, gave into her emotions, and just let her lightsabres fly. She didn't stop. Every blur of white armour was mercilessly cut down as she searched through the communications building for the three teenage Padawans.

When she found them, saw their bodies lying lifelessly on the ground, burned by blaster bolts and eyes lifeless to the world. In that moment she had been ruthlessly flung back into reality, regaining her mind from the dark swirl of emotions. She had stared in horror at their bodies, and turned around to see Galle shoot her in the belly.

Questions flew through her mind, why would they do this? The Clones and Jedi had fought side by side for three years. They had fought together, bled together and died together. She had considered Bly, Galle and the other officers of the Star Corps to be her comrades, her friends, and they had all just turned and tried to kill her.

"_Nothing personal General, just orders," _Galle said that, just after he shot her in the stomach and towered over her, pistol pressed against her temple, ready to finish the job.

Order, what kind of order would make the Troopers turn on her? What could be happening back on Coruscant for such an order to be given? She knew the High Council was planning to confront the Chancellor to relinquish his powers if Master Kenobi defeated General Grievous on Utupau. Aayla knew the Jedi Master, and knew he was more than capable of taking the Cyborg monster down.

Slowly Aayla stood on wobbly legs and almost staggered through the opening to the outside. Naruto sat near a small campfire, cooking some kind of reptile on a makeshift spit of metal. She mused on where he got the cooking utensils, but found herself unable to ask. She staggered over, and fell into a sitting position across from him, her eyes on the ground. A wooden stake, pierced with a slab of meat was presented before her, and she eyed it for a moment before looking up.

Naruto stood over her, a worried frown on his face as he held out the food. "You need to eat something Aayla. You haven't eaten anything in two days." She nodded absently, fingers closing around the stick. She whispered thanks in a hoarse whisper before taking a small, tentative bite of her meal. Naruto sat down beside her as she finished.

"I need to check your wound." She allowed his hands to slowly unravel the bandages around her stomach, wincing in pain as the burn marks stuck against the last of the bandages. He discarded the roll, and she noticed dried blood on the white cloth. "Lie down for me."

She complied without question, and watched as he inspected the blackened skin of the blaster burn, now a couple of days old. He gently pressed his fingers against the skin, asking her where it hurt. For a second Aayla felt like a child, but she visibly relaxed under his soft voice, soothing to her. Her stomach still hurt, but not as badly as she thought.

"Hold still," Naruto ordered softly, placing his hands against her burnt skin. Aayla looked on, confused only for her eyes to widen as his hands were encompassed by a soft green glow. It felt like he had placed a warm balm on her burn, and the pain receded further. She looked at his face to see it as a mask of concentration, eyes focused with such intensity that she felt her cheeks darken. Finally he took a deep breath, and removed his hands. "I was right. You did take a bad hit. Your stomach and kidneys have been badly burned. I was able to heal most of it, but you won't be able to do anything too strenuous for a while."

He asked her to sit up, and quickly replaced the bandages around her stomach. After he was finished the two of them sat in a companionable silence. It was night, Aayla realised, and a canopy of some kind had been placed over the campfire. As the silence resumed Aayla kept remembering what had happened barely a few days before. She shouldn't feel this way. She had seen many friends and comrades die in this force awful war. What made this so different? It wasn't the first friend she saw incinerated by an artillery bolt, or the first time she witnessed her fellow Jedi lying dead on the ground. What changed?

Who killed them was what changed. They weren't killed by Sith, Dark Jedi, or the armies of the Separatist Confederacy. They were killed by their own Clone Troopers. They had turned around and stabbed them all in the back, dark emotions from before threatened to resurface, betrayal, anger, pain, sorrow, and pure unadulterated grief. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and brutally slammed it all down.

"You know you can let it out," Naruto's voice roused her, and her head darted in his direction. "It's not good for your health to keep things bottled up. Believe me I've been there quite a few times."

"I…" She was surprised by the quivering in her voice, and gritted her teeth, angry at herself. She shouldn't be breaking down like this. She was a Jedi Knight damn it. "I…don't know what…you mean."

He reached over and gently brushed his finger over the skin below her left eye, leaning back to show her the water dripping from his fingertip. Aayla reached up to her face, and found warm, salty water flowing down her checks. She was crying. It was then that she came to a realisation. This was not a bad dream. This was not an isolated incident. She knew it in her very soul. In that moment Aayla had never felt so alone in her life.

Aayla couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears fell without resistance. She was alone, all alone. Arms enveloped her and before she knew it she was brought forward into a full embrace, a chin leaning against the top of her head. She was just able to make out Naruto's voice. "It's okay, just let it out."

And she did, she buried her face into his chest and released a string of heavy, emotion filled sobs which racked her body and stained the blonde's shirt. She cried for a long time, but as time went on her cries of sorrow became mild sobs, then sniffles and whimpers, followed by the sound of light breathing. She had cried herself to sleep.

How long she was like this she didn't know, but when she woke up she found that she was still in Naruto's arms, his powerful azure eyes conveying to her his worry. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour,"

She felt her cheeks burn, and released herself from his embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…Naruto, thank you."

"You're welcome Aayla." He said with a smile before looking over at the campfire, the flames extinguished, "Hmm, meats cold."

She looked at him for a moment, before a small smile of her own curled her dark blue lips. She may have been betrayed, she may be the last Jedi alive, but she did not fear it as much as before, because this man was with her. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"While we were fighting the Clones I saw you perform techniques and abilities which I have never seen before, and to be honest some of the things you did terrified me. How are you able to do it? How can you create balls of energy with your hands? How can you create a small army of copies?" She looked him in the eyes, her voice showing no fear or hesitation. He was amazed she seemed so strong only an hour after she broke down. "Naruto, what are you?"

Naruto smiled widely, "Do you want to learn how to do the things I do? I promise it will be an enlightening experience."

Aayla could not believe it. He was willing to share what he knew with her? They had only known each other for a day, and when she was in her time of need he had been there for her, protected her, and saved her life at least three times since they had met. Why did he go so out of his way for her, a total stranger? "Why would you do all of this for me?"

Naruto smiled a genuine smile. "Because when you woke me up I thought I was looking up at an angel. I still do. You're a good person Aayla. You only do what you do for the better of those around you, and you did not deserve such a fate."

She blushed at his words, how could she not. He had just said that he considered her an angel. She was unaware as he rose to his feet, and offered her his hand. "You promised me you'd help me find my way back home didn't you? Call me a chauvinist but that showed me who you are, and it makes me want to protect you. I'll teach you how I move, how I fight, and in return you help me find a way home. What do you say?"

Her blush strengthened as she took his hand.

* * *

Bly watched on as the Chancellor's form came into existence, barely twenty centimetres tall yet held with such authority that it was impossible to deny him. "Report on your progress commander."

Bly straightened as he reported. "We were able to kill Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, as well as the three Padawan learners. However the fate of Jedi Knight Aayla Secura is unknown, we know she was shot in the stomach, but were unable to determine whether she is dead or not."

The Chancellor starred at him, and even though his cowl was raised to cover his face the commander knew it was not a look of satisfaction. "Explain."

Bly complied. "Clone Commander Galle faced off against General Secura and was able to shoot her in the abdomen. Before he could finish the job he was attacked and killed by an unknown assailant. The man was able to escape with her in full view of a Company of Troopers."

The twenty centimetres tall form seemed to think for a moment, before he raised his head. "Commander Bly, you are to continue to hunt down Jedi Knight Aayla Secura until you present her body to me. I will be sending a unit of the Inquisitorius to help you in your investigation. Spare no expense, level the forest if you have to, but find her."

Bly bowed, "It will be done milord."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and Star Wars is the property of Lucas Arts. I make no money from writing this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Thank you all for the terrific response, I must say this story is gaining more attention than I thought it would be. I've started writing it again, though it will take a while before I get back into the swing of things. Answering a few questions here; no it will not be like Bluminous8's fic; and no I will not be dampening or weakening Naruto's powers in any conceivable way, shape or form (That would take away all of the fun destruction I am planning lol). You forget no matter how strong a person is he is not infallible, a good blaster shot or lightsabre strike could probably kill Naruto if he isn't careful.

Thanks again for the response:

Darth Malleus


	4. Learning Old Tricks

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Learning Old Tricks**_

_**Victory, the war is over**_

_It is learned today that the Separatist leaders of the Confederation of Independent Systems have been found by an elite unit of our own Galactic Republic Advanced Recon Troopers. It is reported that despite repeated attempts to reach a peaceful settlement the Separatist leadership fought to the last._

_With the death of the Separatist Council, as well as the deaths of Supreme Commander Dooku and General Grievous the head of the Separatist dragon has been severed. The war is over. _

_**Second Assassination attempt of beloved Emperor**_

_It is reported that another Jedi attempt has been made against our Supreme Chancellor, now first Galactic Emperor, Dantius Palpatine. The assassin, revealed to be the Grand Jedi Master himself, infiltrated the Senate building, killed several members of Senate security and caused massive destruction to the great meeting chamber._

_However, before he could deliver the final blow our beloved Emperor was saved by a small unit of elite ARC Troopers. Grand Jedi Master Yoda was able to escape, and is currently still at large. It is another example of the corruption and devious methods of the power hungry Jedi Order. A bounty of five hundred thousand Imperial credits has been offered to anyone who can capture the traitorous Grand Master, dead or alive.

* * *

_

It was a surreal experience to be in the shoes of a teacher. It was even more surreal to be teaching a woman who was at least three years his senior and was fully capable of sending him flying with a thought. Yet here he was, sitting cross-legged on the forest floor, looking at the beautiful form of Aayla Secura, who likewise was seated cross-legged right in front of him.

He was teaching her for many reasons, the most of which was that he knew she needed something to get her mind off what had happened to her over the last week. Being betrayed by your comrades, seeing your friends die, it was something that left a hole in you. He knew this all too well.

"Right, so let's get started. The first thing I am going to have to do is check to see if you have a chakra circulatory system." He said with a slightly nervous smile, reaching out with his hand. Aayla blinked, before taking his in hers, marvelling at how large his calloused hand was compared to her slender one.

He pumped a little of his chakra through his arm and into her. It was like someone had hit a light switch to a power grid not used in years. The natural reserves in her body flickered before flowing through the mass of chakra pathways, activating what had laid dormant for all of her life. Aayla gasped, feeling her own energy increase tenfold and flow through her just like the force did.

"Hmm," was the first thing that left Naruto's mouth as he gently opened all three hundred and sixty one of her tenketsu points, allowing the chakra to continue its flow. "Your chakra coils are average, but your pathways are solid and healthy. I think you will be able to manipulate and use chakra with no problem."

She nodded, but found that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Naruto seemed to catch on, for as he released his hold he looked into her eyes and smiled. "Want me to explain?"

"It would help," she relented.

"Okay, where to start." He thought about it for a moment, before taking a deep breath, "Chakra is a form of energy which all living individuals naturally produce to some degree. It is a mixture of the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channelled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the three hundred sixty one chakra points, called tenketsu, in the body, with me so far?"

"I think so," Aayla replied with a nod. It sounded an awful lot like the force, but instead of it being an energy field which surrounded all life it appeared to be a reservoir of energy from within oneself.

"Through various methods, the most common of which would be hand seals, the chakra in the body could be manipulated to create an effect which would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water and-"

"Wow, wow, hold on a minute." Aayla said suddenly, gaining a frown from the blonde. "Did you just say walking on water?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, blinked once or twice, and then broke out in a wide grin. "You guys don't know how to walk on water?" Aayla starred at him incredulously for a moment, and then dumbly shook her head. Naruto's grin did the impossible when it widened further. "I don't believe you. It's considered a basic chakra control exercise along with tree climbing."

Aayla looked ever so slightly agitated. "Well excuse me if we can't perform miracles."

The blonde raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, sorry, I forget where I am sometimes. Tell you what, I'll show you the exercises I'm talking about. If you want to control your chakra you're going to have to learn these two techniques."

Aayla sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand before nodding. Naruto, still grinning like a fool rose to his feet and walked across the clearing to one of the towering mushroom shaped trees of the Felucian forest. He looked up at the long, branchless trunk and grumbled something before bringing his hands together in a hand seal, explaining to her in a clear voice as he went. "For beginners it's usually easier to concentrate your chakra through hand seals, so I'll show it to you."

Aayla complied, her annoyance forgotten and replaced by curiosity. She stood up and walked beside her teacher, taking close note of the way his hands formed a strange seal. She felt a surge of energy at the soles of his feet, and watched with ever rising curiosity as Naruto stepped forward, placed his right foot against the bark and began to walk. He walked vertically up the tree, without needing anything to hold him in place. She gapped in surprise, he was basically defying gravity. Sure she could do it too, but in the form of force augmented jumps and dives, not physically walking up vertical surfaces.

Her surprise lengthened when he reached the mushroom shaped shoot and kept going, now standing upside down right above her. He looked down with a sheepish smile, "With me so far?"

She nodded dumbly, and immediately berated herself at being so mystified with what Naruto had called a basic training exercise. His grin widened as he spoke. "First I will teach you the twelve basic hand seals needed to channel chakra into Jutsu, then when I'm sure you know them I will teach you the basic Ninjutsu and Genjutsu that we're taught at the academy back home. I considered teaching you Taijutsu, but I'm guessing you already know an assortment of fighting styles."

It took Aayla a while to catch on to what he was saying, but she was never the sort of person to shy away from asking a question. "I'm sorry. What are Ninjutsu, Genjustu and Taijutsu?"

He blinked, before offering her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not at home anymore. Taijutsu translates as the physical arts. It's basically martial arts and fighting styles. Genjutsu stands for illusionary techniques. That's the ability to create illusions on yourself or against your opponent. Finally there's Ninjutsu, my favourite, which creates all of the really cool techniques, including elemental and clone Jutsu."

Aayla nodded, absently feeling her neck muscles protest at her looking up for so long. Naruto chose that moment to release his technique, performing a flawless somersault as he fell and landing in a crouch right beside her. He sat down, and she mimicked his movements, listening intently to what he was saying. "There are twelve basic hand seals to learn, but once you know them well enough the sky's the limit. I will begin by teaching you these seals." His hands came together to make each seal as he introduced them, and she watched intently. "The twelve seals are bird…boar…dog…dragon…ox…tiger…serpent…rat…horse…monkey…hare…and ram. Usually it takes an academy student months or even years to perfect these seals, but I'm confident I can have you commit them to muscle memory within three months."

"There's a chance we'll be found sooner." Aayla told him, "They have air units here as well as ground."

"Air," Naruto asked with a frown, before he looked at her in complete confusion. "You mean they can fly?"

Aayla raised a delicate eyebrow, "How else do you think the Republic spans over a hundred thousand worlds?"

"Don't forget your talking to me, a guy whose people's idea of a technological marvel is the invention of the telephone." Naruto said dubiously, "By the Sage I'm way out of my depth here."

Aayla smiled coyly, "Good thing you have me then."

Naruto chuckled himself, "Yeah, a beautiful tour guide. A guy could do much worse."

She blushed slightly at the compliment, but forced it down and berated herself for beginning to feel the way she did. It was a core rule of the Jedi Order that any kind of emotional attachment was forbidden. It was a central rule of the order, to stop them from feeling negative emotions which came with feeling for someone.

"Uh," she realised that she had not uttered a word to him, and he was looking at her with a slightly nervous expression, "Aayla, are you ready to start or what?"

"Oh," she started, before shaking her head, "Yeah, let's begin."

And begin they did. Naruto began slowly, spending three hours making her go through the basic twelve hand seals to the point where her hands and fingers hurt from the continuous movements. He spent the rest of the day going through the basics of Ninjutsu. According to him there were three basic Jutsu that all beginner Shinobi needed to learn, those three were the Bunshin no Jutsu, or Clone Technique, the Henge no Jutsu, or Transformation, and the Kawarimi no Jutsu, or Body Replacement.

The Bunshin was a more basic form of Naruto's signature technique, what he called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, or Shadow Clone and was a mostly Genjutsu oriented technique. It allowed the user to create an exact replica of the wielder, illusions which could be used to spring traps or impersonate opponents. Aayla quickly learned that these were not like the ones Naruto used, while his were solid copies these were simply illusions, and if looked at closely enough one could distinguish them by the lack of any changes to the environment around them, like kicking up dust or crushing grass.

The Henge was simply a technique which could transform someone into either an object or in a more advanced form into the appearance of someone else, another Genjutsu oriented Jutsu designed mainly for stealth and spying. Aayla found this to be one of the most interesting of the three, and considered that if the Jedi knew this technique then so many of their operatives within the Separatists would have been saved.

Finally there was the Kawarimi which was the most interesting of the three in that it allowed to user to change places with another nearby object, like a piece of debris, an animal or even, to her surprise another person. She was surprised, and slightly hesitant to believe that it was a type of time and space manipulation Jutsu, capable of bending reality around someone to make the switch. Naruto had explained to her that there were other, more advanced forms of this technique, and that all were useful or deadly against opponents.

That night they hunted, cooked and ate what they could, and during this first of many sessions she learned a great deal about the young man, his people, his culture, his civilisations hierarchy, and most important to her was that she learned more about him, as a person. He had a harsh life, both of his parents was killed by a creature called the Kyubi when he was born, and he had lived most of his young life as an orphan, scrounging around and living as best he could.

In return Aayla told him about herself, as well as everything about the Order she was a part of. She told him about her time as an apprentice under Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, the places she had been too and the people she had met. Then she told him about the war, and how the Jedi had been changed from peacekeepers and mediators into soldiers and officers.

"Why were the Jedi forced to become soldiers?" Naruto asked with a confused look. "Didn't this Republic have an army of its own?"

Aayla shook her head, "The Galactic Republic hadn't needed one until now. We had been enjoying peace for over a thousand years, and during that time the army was downsized again and again until there was nothing more than a small judiciary force. The individual member states were left to govern their own defence. Sure small conflicts cropped up every now and then but when that happened we were usually called to settle them."

"So when these Separatists appeared with mass armies of these…droids, there was no battle hardened soldiers to meet them, and considering the Jedi were the only ones with combat experience they were asked to become commanding officers." Naruto surmised, taking a bite of his meat as he spoke. "Is that about right?"

Aayla nodded her head, "That's right. There was no time to gather and train a traditional army, so we were asked to lead a new army that the Republic had secretly been assembling, an army of Clones."

"Hold on," Naruto cut in lightly, "If the Republic knew this war was going to break out why did they create a Clone Army? Why didn't they just assemble an army of volunteers to meet them?"

"Training an army of the size needed was impossible. It would have taken far too long, and by the time such an army was ready the Separatists would have won." Aayla explained, "The Clones could be grown and made combat ready in a quarter of the time it would have taken us to train regular soldiers."

Naruto nodded, absently finishing off his meat.

* * *

_**Two Weeks Later**_

CC-5052 or Clone Marshal Commander Bly stood at perfect attention as he watched the _Theta-class _Shuttle slowly descend upon the makeshift landing pad. The ships two large wings folded up around her as her stubby landing struts hit the metal with an audible thump, and almost immediately the landing ramp located in the rear opened with a hiss of hydraulics.

Bly, flanked by two battle-hardened ARC Troopers watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the Emperor's agent walked down the ramp. He was a tall and imposing figure, hooded and cloaked in maroon robes. As the man walked down the ramp of the shuttle Bly could just make out the glint of dull gray armour and a black cylindrical hilt of a lightsabre latched to his belt. Flanking him were no less than four members of the Republic's Elite Senate Guard, or Red Guard, dressed in their crimson robes and bullet shaped helms, Force Pikes against their shoulders.

His voice broke through the Commanders reverie. "Report, Commander."

Bly stood solidly to attention, snapping a salute as he reported on his progress. "We have confirmed the deaths of Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, as well as the three Padawans. However we were unable to find the body of Jedi Knight Aayla Secura."

The Inquisitor began walking across the pad, past Bly and his two ARC guards and down the main ramp to solid ground. The entirety of the 327th Star Corps had assembled just outside of Felucia's main settlement of Kway Teow. Huge swaths of forest had been felled to make way for the army. The main fortress of former Commerce Guild President Shu Mai nothing more than a burning ruin, smoke billowing into the skies just a couple of kilometres away. The Separatist presence on the planet had been thoroughly purged. All ten thousand Battle Droids and their mechanised units had been destroyed down to the last scrape of metal.

The newcomer walked through the ranks of men and machines as the Marshal followed, continuing to give his report. "I have sent out a full brigade in search of her, as well as a squadron of LAAT's to continue searching from the air. So far Senior Commander A'den has reported no sign of her and is requesting additional units to help with the search."

"Order the Senior Commander to pull his Brigade back here. You and your Corps are being reassigned."

Bly blinked, before frowning. "Sir, we haven't completed our mission here. Not just in our failure to completely carry out Order 66 but we haven't been able to nullify the contagion the Seps have placed in the water supply."

"That is no longer your concern Commander," The maroon robed figure rebuked, "Your Corps are to pack up and prepare for redeployment. You on the other hand will remain, along with the men on this list."

Bly looked down at the datapad the Inquisitor held out to him, took it and began scanning through the list of names. The list of individuals included himself, and several individuals from the Star Corps ARC Trooper contingents. The best of the Corps he saw, many of whom were trained by the General herself. The Marshal looked up at the Inquisitor questioningly, and after a moment he spoke. "Begging your pardon sir, but what is this about?"

"You and the men on that list have been reassigned to the 501st Legion under the command of new Supreme Commander of Imperial Forces Lord Vader." This statement made Bly look at the names again. The 501st were considered the elite of the Grand Army, the best of the best. It was an honour to be reassigned to this force. "I will also require you to list a battalions worth of your best Clone Troopers to remain here with me. One's who are not on that list."

* * *

The water was cool and crisp, cleansing her of all her aches and pains as she dived into the crystal clear lagoon, sending splashes and ripples across the otherwise calm and still lake. It was a stroke of luck that they camped nearby one of only a few pools of water which was predator free. Which just two weeks before she thought was impossible.

A moment passed before Aayla exploded from the depths, taking a deep gulp of air before she fell back. She took a deep, cleansing breath, enjoying the feeling of the water bathing her naked form, caressing her skin in chilly tendrils, droplets running across her tender cerulean flesh in rivulets. She laid back and let herself float, arms and legs stretched, looking up at the Felucian sky.

Her leather clothes lay on the shore, hung over a low lying branch to dry after she had washed them. It would take an hour or two for them to dry under the Felucian sun, and she wanted to wash the dirt and grime from herself while she waited.

Aayla didn't worry about being caught. Naruto was at least a kilometre away hunting for their next meal. The Felucian jungle was full of edible things including plants and animals so there was no real worry about keeping themselves fed, and with his skills catching prey was as simple as breathing, but it would take him an hour or two at least to find what they needed.

She owed Naruto so much, and she doubted she could ever repay him. The blond haired Shinobi had saved her life at least three times, and had taken care of her when she was hurt and vulnerable, nursing her back to health when if she was alone she would have surely perished. More still he had willingly shared the basic knowledge of his people with her, someone he had just met, and she was thankful to him in his efforts to teach her.

She never knew she had her own personal reservoir of power, something she could now call upon and manipulate at will. He had taught her the twelve basic seals that aided in the drawing of this power with great care and an abundance of patience. He was a great teacher, despite him thinking otherwise, and her progress had only solidified that. He had taught her the three basic Jutsu, as well as showing her the two basic exercises to harness and control her chakra.

Aayla had already mastered the tree climbing exercise, and was well on her way to walking on water. She giggled at the memory of slowly walking across the water in the same manner one would walk a tightrope, Naruto was nearby, sitting at the edge of the lake and offering her pointers when she needed it. She had fallen into that accursed stream more times than she could count, and she was still falling. She was determined; if for no other reason than that the silly oaf had dangled the promise of learning stronger techniques if she proved she could do it.

Aayla sighed, realising she had more fun training with him than she had in a long time. The war seemed to have sucked all of the joy from her life, replacing it with a need to keep her and her troopers alive. How she missed the days when she was a simple apprentice, training with her master and learning new and exciting things every day. She missed those days. She missed Master Vos, Master Tholme, Tra'saa and Yoda, whose old sagely voice was better than a glass of warm Bantha milk to a child. She missed the younglings at the temple who she played with when she wasn't stuck on a far off world fighting for her life. Their happy faces and playful laughter assaulted her ears, and she felt a pain in her chest.

She would never hear those voices again.

Images of Barriss vanishing in a ball of fire invaded her mind, of the three Padawans lying dead in that communications room, of Galle holding a blaster to her forehead.

Aayla felt a tear trace its way down her cheek before she dunked her head under the water's surface.

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath as he walked towards the small lagoon, absently taking off his jacket and shirt as he walked. The hunt had been fairly simple this time around. Barely a half hour in and he had managed to catch and kill one of the strange reptilian birds that were common on this world. He already had it over a fire when he left. Leaving a Kage Bunshin to watch over it and make sure it didn't get burned.

The blond had not bathed in almost three days, and even he was beginning to notice the stench rising from his clothes. He needed to wash them, and then wash all the grime off of himself in order to keep his sanity intact. Naruto didn't know where his comrade was, and hoped that Aayla hadn't gotten the same idea as he had.

Thinking of Aayla brought many emotions and unanswered questions to the blond. After living with her for two weeks he thought he was getting to know her quite well, and what he had surmised was that she was a strong and courageous woman, if a little impulsive at times, jumping headfirst into a situation instead of standing back. She kind of reminded him of himself when he was a teenager, only more refined, more calm and in control and not the tornado of barely controlled energy he once was.

She also possessed a healthy dose of curiosity, listening to every word as he trained her in the basics of a Shinobi's abilities. Aayla had proven to be a fast learner, willing to train for hours or even days on end to master a certain technique. He remembered after he showed her the basic hand signs and handed her a scroll on the subject she spent another three hours reading through the parchment and going through the hand seals.

He reached the last line of trees, and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw. Aayla walked through the shallows towards the beach, completely naked to the world. Quickly the blond jumped back and hid behind a tree, quietly berating himself. Of course she would want to take a bath. She hadn't bathed in a while either.

He knew he should have just turned his back on the scene, gone back to camp and watch over the food. But that stupid perverted impulse of his kept him routed firmly in place, and made him turn around and survey the form of perfection before him. Her body consisted of a supple form and flat stomach, pure unblemished cerulean skin which sparkled thanks to the droplets of water clinging to her flesh. Her breasts were a little over a handful and her legs were long and seemed to stretch for an eternity with every fluid step she took. Those two long head tails followed her, swishing backwards and forwards, touching her firm backside on more than one occasion. In fact every inch of flesh on her body was firm and toned, showing that she took her physical health very, very seriously.

By god she was a sight to behold. Naruto suddenly gave his head a violent shake, before considering smashing it against a tree trunk. He loved that old sage like a father, but damn Jiraiya to hell for turning him into a pervert. He turned, took a deep, calming breath and marched back to camp, unaware that as Aayla reached her now dry clothes her head shot up and darted from left to right, almost like she was looking for something.

She reappeared five minutes later, fully dressed and drying off her long lekku with a towel. Naruto sat rigidly in place, Shadow Clone dispelled and watching the meat as it darkened. She took several steps closer, eyes closed and features relaxed. "I really needed that."

Naruto looked up to her, trying desperately to stop the full blush from forming on his cheeks. He apparently failed miserably. "Naruto, are you alright?" Aayla asked with a little worry, kneeling beside him and placing a delicate cerulean hand against his forehead. "Do you have a fever? Your face is all flushed."

"Nope," Naruto replied, taking those images and violently flushing them from his thought processes. "Just a little tired is all, and I'm in real need of a bath."

She smiled a delicate, beautiful smile. "Well I'm finished bathing, so you can go if you want. I'll keep an eye on the food."

Naruto nodded and stood up, trying and failing to not notice the cleavage showing thanks to her leather cut off top. "Thanks."

Aayla starred after him as he disappeared into the forest, a little confused from the change of his aura. When he saw her walk into camp she felt that he was embarrassed and a little guilty. Why would he need to feel guilty? After a moment the young Knight shrugged, and finished drying off her lekku.

* * *

Major Garn looked up as the last wedge shaped _Acclamator-class _Assault ship disappeared in the surrounding cloud cover over the capital, the seven hundred and fifty meter long warship transporting sixteen thousand of his brethren to their next assignment. He had heard that although the Separatist leadership was destroyed there were still worlds refusing to adhere to the new Empires control, and almost half of the Grand Army was being rerouted to deal with them. Six months, the Lieutenant considered the last Confederate resistance would fall within six months.

That was not his concern however, not anymore. His attention was once again fully on this Inquisitor, an agent of the Empires new Inquisitorius, who he considered was a replacement for the Jedi. The Inquisitor here was definitely a force sensitive individual, but immediately he decided he didn't like him. Something about this man made his hair stand on end, not like Lady Secura or Lady Offee, who had a calming aura about them. He didn't even know the man's name.

Garn had been handpicked by his former Marshal Commander to lead the chosen Clone squads during his operation. The Major found himself in charge of over five hundred veteran Clone Troopers, a battalions worth taskforce gathered to help in the hunt for their former General.

Several meters away was the intimidating form of a small column of modified AT-RT artillery walkers, given to them to serve as mobile command centres, a further six LAAT gunships lay nestled to his left, already filling up with a platoon of thirty Clones each.

"Are you listening Major?"

"Yes, Inquisitor," Garn replied, looking over the holographic view of the jungle for at least fifty kilometres in every direction, "This section of jungle stretches for at least three hundred kilometres in every direction, and with her abilities Knight Secura could be well out of range by now."

"There is no need to worry about that Lieutenant," the Inquisitor replied, "If she was injured she would not be able to run far. She would be looking for an open space, with a water source and enough cover to hide."

The Major thought about it. There were only a select few locations which had water supplies as it was the middle of the dry season. From atmospheric scans he knew that there were only three small pools of water in this section of jungle, and a stream which was continually shrinking as the weeks passed. "Then I will order the gunships to survey these three areas for any sign of her."

"See to it that it is done Major." The Inquisitor replied, turning to make his way towards the open ramp of the AT-RT, "Her survival is a black mark on the 327th Star Corps, makes you look like you cannot complete your assignments."

The lieutenant grit his teeth at the man's statements, yes he was beginning to miss the Jedi already. If he could he would rather kill this man instead of his former General. Garn had deep respect for her, as a warrior and a person. He would fulfil his duty, but he didn't have to like it.

* * *

"That's it," Naruto said with a smile as he watched her, "I think you got it."

Aayla breathed a sigh of relief as she put one foot in front of the other, still amazed every time she looked down to see the crystal clear water lapping at her bare feet. She was soaking wet from several failed attempts, her skin glistening in the midmorning sunlight, but she did it, she was walking on water.

A genuinely happy smile curved her lips upward as the young woman looked down at the mass of life beneath her feet. She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned down to look at the small shoal of alien fish flitting through the deep water of the pool. At that moment she felt different, happy and relaxed. Aayla looked up to see Naruto standing before her, a smile of his own adorning his whiskered cheeks.

"There you go Aayla, knew you could do it." She blushed ever so slightly at the compliment, before offering him a quick bow, hoping the sudden movement hid the darkening of her cheeks. Sadly this did not go unnoticed by the blond human. "Hey, are you blushing?"

"No," she replied with as much indignation as she could muster, which wasn't much considering her happy mood.

"You are blushing," he exclaimed with a chuckle. Aayla's blush darkened, before she felt her control slip and she fell back into the water with a squeak of surprise. Naruto moved quickly, grabbing her by the sides before she went under and pulling her back up to a standing position, "Sorry, sorry. Concentrate on the soles of your feet. Good, gather your chakra."

Aayla regained her footing, and sent a dangerous look to her teacher, "That was not funny."

"I disagree," Naruto replied with a grin, turning around to walk back to dry land.

He managed three steps before Aayla jumped him, sending the two of them cascading through the lake's surface. A second passed before the young Twi'lek exploded from the water, concentrating her chakra into the soles of her feet to keep herself stably on the surface. She was soaked to the bone again, but surprising her teacher had been worth it.

Or so she thought, she waited for a minute before she began to get worried. Naruto hadn't resurfaced, and as she walked in a circle, absently calling out his name, and getting no reply, she really started to worry. Aayla was completely unaware of the dark shape keeping stride with her from beneath her feet, not until a pair of hands exploded from the water and latched onto her bare ankles. The young Knight was barely able to squeak in surprise before she was pulled down, losing control of her chakra.

Both resurfaced at the same time, only their heads visible. Naruto shook his head violently, tossing a mass of droplets from his hair in every direction, including on his bemused student. Aayla frowned at him, before a rueful smile curved her dark lips, a smile which the blond returned. Both concentrated their chakra into the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet, forcing themselves out of the water and into a kneeling stance.

Both looked at each other for a heartbeat, before the young woman playfully stuck out her tongue, "Catch me if you can,"

With that she performed a perfect backward somersault, her body diving into the water, kicking up splashes which drenched Naruto once again. The blonde shook himself, looked at the disturbed water's surface, and grinned, "What you think I can't swim?"

He took a few careful hops before jumping into the air in a chakra propelled leap, and streamlining his body dived into the water, following his student through the clear lake. Both flew through the water as if being in such a place was as natural as breathing. Aayla continuing to lead Naruto on, performing beautiful and tantalising acrobatics to keep herself just out of her teachers reach. She hadn't had so much fun in years.

Both were completely unaware that a single Clone Trooper was watching them from the far side of the lake, looking through the scope of his sniper rifle. He had a perfect shot at Aayla's head, but didn't take it. Instead he began discreetly sending a communiqué to his superiors.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Once again thank you all for the response to this story so far. I really wasn't expecting so many people to like it, and it pleases me to see so many people do. Some people have voiced their concerns that this is going to turn into a copy of Swords and Magic. It's not, I have a whole different idea for a story in my head, they won't be stuck on Felucia for too long, and they won't be meeting up with Shaak Ti, which may come later.


	5. Shinobi Lessons 101

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Shinobi Lessons 101**_

_**Latest Holonet News**_

_**The New Supreme Commander of Imperial Forces**_

_It has been confirmed today that Emperor Palpatine, first Galactic Emperor of the Galactic Empire, has recently instated a new face as the Supreme Commander of the former Republic Navy, now Imperial Starfleet. Lord Vader, a former Jedi who defended the Emperor against his corrupt brethren has been placed in command of the Imperial Starfleet._

_While the Supreme Commander was not available for comment, the Imperial spokesman has informed us that Lord Vader is the best man for the job. _

_**Continued Military Defence**_

"_We may have won this war, but what about the next one?" These were the words that new Galactic Emperor Dantius Palpatine asked of us. "In order to protect our just Empire we will need the continued presence of the Army and Navy, because of this I will be adding extra funding to the military defence budget."_

_It has been confirmed that the funding for Military Defence will be quadrupled by the end of the year. It has also been confirmed that the Clone Legions will slowly be phased out, replaced by regular volunteer soldiers from across the galaxy. There has been some worrying news that non-humans will not be allowed to volunteer; this reporter asked the Imperial Spokesman Mas Amaeda to verify the claim._

"_Rest assured the ban on non-human sentients from entering the armed forces is not permanent, and is simply a precaution which will be lifted once the Separatist threat is behind us."_

_**Depths of Jedi Corruption Revealed!**_

_For the first time since the Jedi rebellion new light has been shed on the devious methods employed by the Jedi Order, once proud warriors of peace and justice, twisted by their High Council into murderers and traitors. Thorough reports compiled and released to the press by Imperial Advisor Sate Pestage today show the depths of the Jedi Order's corruption. _

_The charges are varied and each more devious than the last, from the murder of innocents to the attempted assassination of our leadership, from poisoning water supplies to joining the Separatists themselves. Click on 'Jedi: From Peacekeepers to Traitors' to see the full story of the Jedi Order's fall from grace.

* * *

_

The night was fairly quiet, which in itself was strange. Usually in the Felucian jungle the night would be just as lively as the day. Calls of the numerous animals would echo through the darkness as nocturnal herbivores and hunters alike came out to begin their own day. It was nearing daybreak, the sun just dipping over the horizon.

The camp was quiet, packed up and placed under the protection of the camouflage nets. So when CC-9023, codenamed Clay, silently arrived at the edge of the tree line in a crouch, he knew full well that this was the place they had spent the last few weeks looking for. The General had been very hard to track, but now it was all over.

He looked around, raising his hand in the shape of a fist. Within a second his full squad of Clone Troopers were by his side, forming a battle line across the trees. All were ready, blasters held purposefully in their hands as they waited for the veteran sergeant's order. Clay lowered his hand, and as one the twelve Troopers rushed through the campsite with the speed of vipers and the silence of predators.

Their two targets, the General and the man who saved her were holed up in a hollowed out tree at the other side of the clearing. The Clones surrounded it expertly, leaving no chance for escape. Clay looked around, and nodded to the three clones by the entrance.

They in turn nodded, taking a step back, levelling out their blaster rifles and firing a concentrated salvo of blaster bolts into the tree, shredding bark and peppering whatever lay within. The barrage lasted for a full five seconds, and when it stopped the rifles were smoking from their discharges.

Clay walked forward, patting one on the shoulder, and opened the net. He looked down to see the bodies of the blond human, and their former General, her once unblemished cerulean skin peppered with the black marks of blaster fire. He walked in, checked the pulse of the human, then that of his general. Both were dead. The Sergeant took the time to close the young Jedi's dark eyes before turning to his Troopers.

"Send the report to the Inquisitor that we have successfully tracked down and eliminated General Aayla Secura and an unknown human male." He said, not wanting to face that man at the moment. He waited for a couple of heartbeats before the assigned clone responded.

"He wishes to view the body sir."

"Of course he does," the Sergeant grit out. "Well what are you waiting for, pick her up."

Two clones entered the trunk. Both carefully picking up the dead body of their General with great care, like she was asleep and they were moving her to her bed. The Sergeant sighed, hoping that they granted her a quick death. He looked at the male who tried to save her life, and bent over, closing his azure orbs. "You did well son, but not good enough."

The mood in the camp was sombre as Squad nine brought the dead body of their former General to the centre of the clearing. Clone Troopers stopped what work they were doing to survey the body as it was carried in, carefully, by two clones and surrounded by the rest of the squad. They walked to the centre, and set her down, allowing the Inquisitor a look.

The man walked towards the body, Major Garn and his four Red Guards in tow. The Major stopped a good several meters away, not willing to see his General in such a state. The Inquisitor and his guardsmen had no such reservations, continuing until they stood right over her. The man looked down at her stoically, steel capped boot giving her a nudge to make sure she was truly dead.

"Excellent work Sergeant," the Inquisitor stated as he looked over the body. "You and your men will receive a recommendation for your efforts."

"Thank you sir," the sergeant replied half heartedly.

"So much for the unbeatable Jedi Knight Aayla Secura," The Inquisitor spat her name as if it were a vile poison, kicking her limp arm away, "Only mortal."

The body exploded into a puff of white smoke, blinding all who looked at it for a brief moment. When it cleared the General's body wasn't there, but a lump of bark instead. The Inquisitor looked at the 'body' in complete surprise. Then he heard a steady beep and looked to what was tied to the wood with widening eyes.

The thermal detonator exploded, turning the timber itself into shrapnel. The Inquisitor and his four guards were caught in the blast. The particle field released from the thermal nuclear fusion incinerating them to atoms before they could scream. The blast field stopped at five meters, and collapsed in on itself, leaving nothing but a crater.

Garn looked at the empty space in complete surprise, "Force me."

* * *

Aayla looked at the field in complete shock. Sure she knew the Kawarimi no Jutsu was useful to get one out of a tight situation, but she was unaware that one could basically turn a last second escape into such a counterattack. The Inquisitor and his entourage didn't know what hit them until it was too late.

"Shinobi lesson 101," she looked over at her on-again off-again sensei, who was watching the scene with a smirk. He was slouched beside her, body leaning against the trunk of the tree, a cigarette in his mouth. "Naruto's handbook, chapter five, pages fifty to sixty nine, the many uses of the Substitution Jutsu."

"You have a book?"

"Several," Naruto replied, taking a drag of his cigarette before putting it out against the bark. "In fact I'm thinking of taking up writing again, perhaps there's a market for Icha Icha in the greater galaxy."

Aayla just stared at him, finding something not quite right about his sheepish grin. She had known Naruto for the better part of a month, meaning that she now had a basic understanding of his quirks and habits. She considered him a friend, as well as a mentor.

"Now then," he said as he rose to his feet, dusting himself off. "I think it's time we got as far away from here as possible, don't you?"

"Yes," she agreed as she rose from her crouch. "The Clones will continue the search even without the Inquisitor to look over their shoulders."

"If we can hide out here in the forest how long would they look for you?"

"They are dedicated and unwilling to leave a job unfinished. They will hunt me until ordered otherwise." She replied. Naruto looked over at her, noticing the sadness and depression he had seen after their betrayal begin the resurface.

"Okay our options are to run until we get caught, or fight until we get overwhelmed." Naruto muttered before releasing a whispered curse, "Not very good options."

"There is a third option,"

"What?"

Aayla looked him in the eyes, and managed a weak smile, "We could get off the planet."

If she had made this remark a month ago Naruto would have questioned her sanity, but now with all that he heard from her he was willing to go on a little faith. He scratched the back of his head with a sigh, before nodding in agreement. "Okay, where do we go?"

"The only space port on Felucia is in the capital, Kway Teow." Aayla explained with a thoughtful frown, "They were shipping refugees off the planet when we landed, still were last time I checked."

"That was a few weeks ago, and the battle with the Separatists is probably over by now." Naruto pointed out.

"I'll be guessing there will still be refugees wanting to get off world." Aayla countered, "The water supply was poisoned by the Sep leader before she left. That was the main reason why we remained on the planet, to stop them."

"It's worth a try but there will be a problem in getting there. We'll have to make it through this jungle, dodge an army of enemy soldiers and smuggle ourselves onto a ship at a heavily guarded space port," he suddenly grinned, "That's what the Henge no Jutsu was made for."

* * *

Felucia's capital city, Kway Teow, was not what one would call a city in the literal sense. It was the largest settlement on Felucia, but was for all intents a purposes a simple port town. The town was an assortment of hovels, dwellings and other buildings ranging from a storey to two storeys tall, with large landing pads for ships scattered across the landscape. The settlement was encircled by a five meter high wall of stone and the protective bubble of a deflector shield to protect it from the planets deadly wildlife.

The local population was roughly twelve thousand including a variety of peoples from across the galaxy, not just humans but Aayla's own species, Twi'leks, and large hammer headed creatures which his guide called Ithorians. To Naruto, who would be considered a country boy, this was a surreal and incredible experience. The settlement was full of refugees from all over the planet. They lined the streets and took up space in every inn and hostel, literarily everywhere was booked solid. A simple settlement of twelve thousand now sported close to five times that number.

As the two unlikely comrades walked down the streets, their features covered by worn brown robes, Naruto's head darted left and right, taking in everything around him. The aromas of unknown concoctions was thick in the air from mobile kitchens set up to keep the refugees fed, from inns and taverns and the few street stalls which remained open even in a time of crisis.

Naruto had no need to wear any kind of disguise except for his brown robes, no one but Aayla would know his face. His Twi'lek guide on the other hand was another matter entirely. She was a well known Jedi Knight who had fought and won dozens of major battles. The very second they had entered the town he noticed wanted posters with her face strewn across walls and billboards.

So he had her caste a henge on herself, and was impressed by what she had come up with. Her Cerulean skin had changed colour to a deep red, with black tattoos etched into her lekku and down her arms. He almost didn't recognise her. She was a picture of serenity and calm as they walked down the crowded streets, their drab brown cloaks making them just another two refugees in a massive throng of refugees.

"You're going to need a new name if we're going to get off this planet in one peace." Naruto whispered to her.

"I've already thought of one," Aayla whispered back, "Jaayza Rar."

"You've never used it before?"

"I have, but only a few Jedi I trust know the name, so I'll be fine."

Naruto nodded and continued to look around as they walked down the crowded streets. He saw the odd duo or trio of white armoured Clone Troopers here and there, but other than that the army that was here a few weeks before seemed to have moved on. His hand moved instinctively to his kunai pouch when they got close, but they rarely gave them a brief glance. It seemed that Aayla's Henge was working just fine.

"So how are we going to get off this rock?" Naruto asked as Aayla stepped into a bar, walked through the crowded main room and took an empty table near the back, "I don't know about you but I doubt we'll be getting out of here anytime soon."

"It's true that the public transports will be full, but there is another way," his Twi'lek guide answered, ordering a drink whose name Naruto didn't recognise, he ordered the same. "We find a privateer, a smuggler or something and volunteer to temporarily join his crew."

"I'm guessing you need a skill to join a Starship crew," Naruto pointed out, "And I'm sorry to say that I won't be much use with working on it."

"You won't have too," Aayla replied, accepting her drink, a strange blue liquid and took a graceful sip, "I know my way around mechanics and engines. You can be a bodyguard or a mercenary for hire. I've seen your skills, even without using Jutsu you're a formidable hand to hand fighter, and I've already taught you the basics of handling a blaster."

The blonde looked down at the duo of blaster pistols, holstered in a black belt at his waist and frowned. He had relieved them of one of the ARC Lieutenants he had slain and damned near almost blown his own head off if Aayla wasn't there to grab them off him. It turned out that after a couple of days of target practise he was a natural gun fighter, and there were plenty of ammo cartridges scattered around the forest from the entrenched battles fought between the Republic and the Separatists.

"Even so I'm going to need more than a gun hand to serve my weight on a Starship," he replied, taking a gulp of the blue liquid, it actually wasn't bad. "So you teach me the basics?"

Aayla laughed lightly, "I was going to whether you wanted too or not."

"Very well," Naruto smirked, "I am at your command _Jaayza-sensei_."

"Sensei?"

"Means teacher in my people's language," Naruto explained with a simple wave of his hand, "So where are we going to go to join one of these smuggling crews?"

"Right here, this place is a centre for smuggler and privateer captains."

"They recruit in bars?"

"Their work is technically illegal you know, can't just rush out into the street and scream that they're recruiting." His guide pointed out as she took another sip of her drink.

"Good point." Naruto conceded, taking a nice long gulp of the blue liquid, "This is nice."

"Enjoy,"

* * *

"So, Mrs Rar, you wish to join my crew do you?" the man's name was Jaden Kora, and he was old and grizzled, a head of grimy white hair pulled back by a stained olive cap. He sat in one of the back booths of the small bar, wearing a stained dark green vest, matching pants and black boots, a blaster was holstered to his hip and a cigar was clutched between his teeth.

"Yes sir," Aayla replied respectfully, remaining calm and polite to the seasoned smuggler Captain.

Kora leaned forward, studying Aayla's form for a moment, "And besides your ample form what else can you bring to my crew. I've gained quite a few desperate men saying they can repair anything and end up not knowing what a hydrospanner is."

"Understandable, there is a war going on and people want to get away from it," Aayla replied, also leaning forward until the two were face to face. "And I'm not just a pretty face Captain. I know my way around an engine room, was a mechanic on a smuggler vessel a few years ago."

"Former smugglers are you?" Jaden replied, looking her with a new light. "And what about your friend over there, what can he offer me?"

Naruto finished his drink and looked the man in the eye. Aayla spoke up for him. "He's not a mechanic, but he's a fighter and a good one."

"I have enough fighters on my ship."

"Not like him you haven't." Aayla replied, taking a sip of her ale before continuing. "Naruto here is a master of hand to hand combat, he also knows his way around a blaster. He was trained by the Shinobi tribes of Konoha."

"Never heard of them," he growled.

"Suppose you haven't, considering the planet is fairly close to the unknown regions." Aayla replied nonchalantly, even Naruto couldn't tell if she was lying, and she put the whole thing past him first. "But they are some of the best. They claim to be able to take on anyone, Jedi, Sith, Mandalorians, anyone."

"Is that a fact?" the old man leaned back thoughtfully in his chair, looking to the man beside him. He was considerably younger, and Naruto guessed he was hired muscle by the double barrelled blaster on his belt. "I tell you what little missy, I've been having me some engine trouble, got caught up in that battle in orbit, fried my hyperdrive and sublight pretty good. You fix it for me and you're in my crew until we reach our destination, how's that sound?"

"Perfect, what about my friend?"

"He's also going to have to prove himself." Jaden looked at Naruto, then down at the dual blasters holstered to his utility belt. "Can you shoot son?"

"When the occasion calls for it," Naruto replied.

"Then follow me, I have a small test for you."

They followed him and his guard to the back of the bar, and through a worn door. Beyond was a backyard, completely empty sans for a few tables and chairs. Jaden and his two associates downed the last of their bottles, and taking each of them the old Captain walked towards the table at the far end, placing them in a line. "These bottles are a good twenty meters away from you kid, if you can shoot them all in three shots then I'll take you to the same destination as your little pretty friend, if not then we leave you here."

"Hold on a second-" Aayla began, ready to protest, only to be stopped by Naruto's raised hand. The blond grinned as he spoke.

"You're on old man."

Jaden nodded, before walking back to his two comrades. Naruto took a deep breath before placing himself in a ready position, fingers flexing as they neared the blaster holstered to his right hip. Aayla looked on worriedly. Naruto didn't know how to shoot a blaster. She had to confiscate them after he pointed the barrel at his face. He had done a couple of hours practise under her supervision, but that didn't make him an expert marksman.

In a blur he drew the blaster on his right hip, levelled it out and squeezed the trigger. Three bolts of azure energy went flying one after the other, forcing his military grade weapon to recoil. All three hit the mark, shattering the three ale bottles with pin point accuracy. Naruto smirked, before spinning the blaster in his hand and holstering it in a smooth motion. He turned, and bowed extravagantly before the three smugglers and his gobsmacked friend.

Jaden whistled, "Not bad sonny, can I offer you a job."

Naruto grinned, "Sorry old man, but I go where she goes."

The old man took a drag from his cigar, "Eh, if you ever change your mind. Now let's see if the little missy here is worth her salt, come on."

The three smugglers turned and walked back into the bar, followed by Naruto and Aayla a few steps behind. "When did you learn to shoot like that?"

He smiled at her expression, "Practise, lots and lots of practise."

"But I confiscated them from you after each practise session."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"You didn't sneak in and take them out at night, no, you couldn't have. I would have known."

"Sure you would have." He replied a little teasingly. "Whatever makes you sleep better at night?"

"You did steal them," she fumed, getting a little annoyed with his blasé attitude. He looked at her a little too intently, making her lean back. "What?"

Naruto grinned mischievously, "You're so cute when you're flustered."

Her cheeks darkened, "I am not flustered."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Naruto!"

* * *

His first lesson in mechanical repair was when they were led into Jaden's ship. It was a massive thing, at least to his eyes. It was the first starship Naruto had ever seen, and although Aayla had told him all about them just seeing one for the first time was a surreal experience. It seemed to hit home the fact that he wasn't well, 'home' anymore.

The Starship was maybe around a few dozen meters in length, disc shaped with the cockpit located on one side of the ship. Jaden called it an YT-1300 Freighter, and its name was the _Last Call._

Jaden led them up the ramp, through a corridor and into a small chamber he guessed was a sitting room of some description. It wasn't in the best shape, but the built in sofas were in fairly good condition. They were introduced to the rest of the crew as they were led through. A young man, probably in his teens named Jarvis Quinn. The guns for hire Jaden had with him in the bar were Solen Farr and Ken Lynx and the pilot was a rather sexy young woman of an alien species he would later know as a Zeltron, named Dani Relisa,

Jaden stood in the centre of the room, bent over and with an iron pike of some kind forced open a large metal grate, "Engines down there little missy, have a look at it and tell me what you think."

Aayla nodded her head before turning to him, "Wanna give me a hand."

He gave her a look, "Isn't this a little too important for you to be teaching me?"

She shrugged in response, "Better sooner than later."

Naruto sighed, but nodded and watched as she climbed through the hatch into the engineering room. He followed her, and fell into a mass of mangled wires and sparking machinery. "Shit, hey Jaayza where are you?"

"Down here," Aaylas voice filtered through the sea of cables, he saw her form in the low light, glaring up at the Captain. "This is the worst kept engine I've ever seen in my life!"

"I told you it was blasted good didn't I?" Jaden replied. "Anyway have a look at it and tell me if it can be repaired. The tools are besides the opening."

Aayla huffed, "Naruto get up there and hand me down the tools."

"Yes, ma'am,"

Aayla slaved away on the repairs for a full three hours, calling out to him for certain tools and telling him about the basics of a starships engine system as they went along. Eventually she began to swear, the words becoming more and more vulgar as she got a better view of the freighters condition. She resurfaced a few moments later and called for the Captain. He was there within a few seconds.

"What's the word sweetie?"

"I was able to replace most of the wiring, and get your droids brain up and running again, but the hyperdrive motivator and a few of the nodes are shot, you're going to need replacements if you're going to get off this planet." She explained, rubbing her oily hands with a rag.

The Captain looked at the members of his crew as they came, and a smile fell across all their faces. "Little lady, your hired."

"What?"

"This was a test to make sure you knew your way around a hyperdrive engine. We have all the parts but no one to do the repairs, how long will it take to get her up and running?"

"About a day," Aayla replied with a frown. "With Naruto's help I'd say half a day."

"Alright, I'll get the spare parts out of storage."

* * *

"So this is a hyperdrive motivator thingy?" Naruto asked with a frown as he examined the small device, a cube about the size of his hand.

"Yep, that's it. It's the main component of any hyperdrive. It connects to the vessels main computer systems to monitor and collect sensor and navigation data in order to determine how a ship jumps. Without it it's impossible to travel to other worlds." Aayla explained as she continued to unscrew bolts with her hydrowrench, she had undone her transformation Jutsu to store chakra; her body was covered with black oil smudges and sweat. Naruto lay beside her, watching her work. He had learned so much from her over the last few weeks, and he felt like he owed her so much.

"Could you hold this thing up while I unscrew this last bolt?" she asked.

"Sure thing," he replied, reaching up with his hands to anchor the steel panel as she continued to work. The panel fell into his hands and he placed it to the side as she took the motivator from him and set to replace it. She tore out the destroyed original, handed it to him and began installing its replacement.

"Throw that into the box will you."

"Okay," Naruto replied as he took the old motivator from her. "How far along are we?"

"Almost finished, just need to install this and the ship will be ready to go." Aayla continued to work, installing her replacement motivator in under a few minutes before taking the steel panel from him to bolt it back into place. "Hold this up, will you?"

He complied, and held it in place with his arms while Aayla continued to screw the bolts back into place. She was almost finished, just two more and they would be ready to depart. She reached over, placing her weight on Naruto as she began to screw in the final few bolts. A hand fell on hers as she moved to seal the final one and she looked over to see Naruto stare at her in surprise.

The hand felt so right against hers, so warm and comforting, but he found his error quickly and moved aside. "Sorry Aayla, didn't mean to get in your way."

"It's okay," she replied, moving to screw in the final bolt. She ignored the pounding of her heart, and tried to ignore her cheeks as they took on a darker shade of blue with his contact. She couldn't have feelings for him could she? No, impossible. She was a Jedi of the Order first and foremost, and she would continue to be.

She finished screwing in the final bolt and handed the wrench to her friend, before crawling her way towards the exit. "Right that should about do it, come on."

"Uh Aayla,"

"What?"

"Henge,"

* * *

"Cleared the planet's atmosphere sir," Relisa's silky voice could just be heard over the low roar of the old freighters atmospheric thrusters; "Switching from thrusters to sublight… now."

Silence reigned as the atmospheric thrusters died away, replaced by a louder growl as the more powerful sublight engines sputtered to life. The blond felt a pressure push him into the back of his chair as the engines came online, throwing the small ship from the planets upper orbit into open space.

This was Naruto's first time in a starship, obviously, and with everything Aayla had told him he thought he was prepared for it. He couldn't have been more wrong. Just seeing the ground disappear from your vision, watching as the ship passed by the thin clouds, and finally watching as the clear yellowish sky of Felucia was replaced by an eternal starry expanse. It was perhaps the most beautiful and terrifying thing Naruto had ever seen in his life.

He tried to reign in his emotions so as not to worry his friend, strapped into the rear cockpit chair beside him. But she wasn't called an empath for nothing. A slender hand covered his own, offering him support and comfort. Naruto looked at her with a thankful expression before looking back out the cockpit viewscreen at the expanse of stars.

"Sublight engines nominal, dash shows all green." Dani's voice broke through his awe, and he looked over to see a smile on her face.

Kora, strapped into the pilot's chair, looked over at him and Aayla with a grin. "Well Mrs Rar, looks like you are worth your weight in salt after all."

"Please Captain," she said with a smile. "Just call me Jaayza."

"Well Jaayza, I promised both you and your friend safe passage to our destination, and I intend to deliver. Consider yourselves honoured guests."

"Thank you Captain,"

"Your very welcome little lady," the Captain replied as he unstrapped himself from his bucket seat, nodding to Dani who began typing in coordinates on the console.

"So what's your first port of call?"

"Esseles," was his reply. "Right in the middle of the Core Worlds. It should be a fairly safe place, what with the war ending and all."

* * *

She awoke with a start, sweating to the point where her night clothes were covered in it. Her breathe left her in short gasps, chest heaving as she tried to regain her composure. Aayla reached up with a slender hand to wipe the sweat from her brow and brought both hands up to cover the sides of her head as she tried with all her might to dispel the afterimages of her nightmares. She found herself in the dank sleeping chamber given to her and Naruto by the ship's captain. The blond was asleep on the decking, giving her the bed while he slept on the floor with a blanket.

She had suffered from them on and off since the massacre began. The first one she was aware of was watching her former Jedi Master and close friend die, so vivid she could have sworn she was actually there. The next one was watching Barriss' death through her friends own eyes, feeling her skin boil and burn as the coarse fire of a Turbolaser blast cut her down in an explosion of crimson. She watched as her friends master died on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, shot in the back by the very Clones she was healing.

But this one was the very worst she had suffered from. It was so horrific, so traumatic that she couldn't describe it in words. She had seen the massacre at the Jedi Temple, through the eyes of a Youngling hiding in the Jedi Council Chambers. He felt her fear through the force, and it broke her heart to feel it. No one so young should have to go through that fear, and her death was one neither she nor Aayla ever expected.

_She reached over to the youngling beside her, barely four or five with pale skin, blond hair and big blue eyes, and gripped his arm with a shaking fist. Blaster fire and explosions could be heard outside the Council Chambers, getting closer and closer with each passing second._

"_Sors, I'm scared." _

_He looked to her, eyes wide with fear, yet still was able to place a comforting smile her way. "Don't worry Shia. They won't let them near us."_

"_But there's so many of them," she replied in a fearful whisper._

"_Remember the stories; a Jedi Knight is worth a hundred foes." He replied with a smile._

_Besides the severity of the situation she frowned at him. "You fell asleep half way through the lesson again didn't you? Mistress Nu told us that story to make sure we wouldn't become arro-arrog-"_

"_Arrogant?" Another Padawan, this one a little Bothan whose fur had just begun to grow, offered helpfully._

"_That's it," she replied. "She said that Jedi of the era believed they couldn't die, and ran too their own deaths."_

_Before Sors could reply the great doors to the Jedi temple opened with a creek, light spilled into the darkened Council chambers. The younglings all looked up to see a single figure stride into the chamber. He was hooded and cloaked, garbed in simple Jedi garb, brown tunic and trousers, knee high black boots and an opened hooded robe of brown._

_The darkness made it difficult for most to see, but the boy, Sors, seemed to know him, for his eyes lit up with hope and his mouth curled into a toothy grin. "See, it's going to be alright. It's Master Skywalker, Master Skywalker is here!"_

_Shia looked at Anakin. Then turned to Sors to see him get up and rush to his side. There was something not right about him, the Anakin Skywalker she remembered was kind and playful, playing force tag and other games with them when he had free time. This Anakin felt wrong, eyes were enshrouded by the darkness of his cloak, not looking at them._

"_Something's not right." She whispered, shying further into the shadows of Master Ti's chair._

"_Master Skywalker, there are too many of them! What are we going to do!" there was such hope in Sors eyes, in his voice; his idol was here to save them._

_Master Skywalker didn't respond, didn't speak, he unclipped his lightsabre from his belt and thumbed the switch, azure blade coming to life with the weapons signature snap-hiss. Shia watched the blade with a horrified fascination as he moved with blurring quickness, killing Sors with a diagonal strike from his left shoulder to his right side._

"_No,"_

_The younglings screamed, some began to huddle together, others like Shia shied further into the shadows of their hiding place in a vain attempt to hide. Anakin wasn't fooled, he calmly and precisely strolled through the chamber, cutting down the Younglings with quick and precise strokes. Aayla watched the whole thing, screaming at him to stop._

_Shia was the last; huddled against a corner with her knees curled up to her chest and her eyes starring widely at their supposed saviour. Anakin walked up to her, looking down at her with eyes which were not his own. Instead of his usual lively blue orbs his eyes were a sickly yellow, dark and vicious with sickle pupils befitting a predator. Aayla continued to cry at him to stop, even as he raised his lightsabre and brought it down._

Tears streamed from her eyes as she remembered the dream down to the last terrible detail, no, it wasn't a dream. It was a vision of the past. Those younglings, those poor, helpless younglings were all dead. He killed them, Anakin killed them all. He had led the assault on the Jedi Temple, and aided in the killing of every youngling, Padawan, knight and master within its walls.

She didn't know that she had been sobbing, and was surprised when Naruto sat beside her, placing an arm on her shoulder to gain her attention. Aayla looked up at her friend, unaware of the tears streaking down her cheeks until Naruto showed her. "These dreams are killing you Aayla. What did you see?"

"Younglings," she replied, angry at herself for her broken voice. "He walked into the chambers and killed them all, to the last boy and girl. Naruto, he murdered children."

Naruto's face softened at her distress, and then hardened at her news, "Who murdered children?"

Naruot was an orphan, and because of that there were crimes that he would never allow a person to get away with. He considered anyone who preyed upon defenceless women and children his enemies right down to the bone. It was the reason why he didn't kill Gale straight away. When he saw her defenceless with a pistol pressed against her forehead he snapped. Naruto crushed Gale's chest armour, made him suffer, and then took off his head. It was a very un-Jedi thing to do, but he wasn't a Jedi. He was a Shinobi, and from what he told her Shinobi were bred on the field of battle, they utilised their emotions to survive, yet unlike the Sith he didn't let his negative emotions control him.

He made her look into his eyes, and she saw his eyes darken ever so slightly. His voice was calm, yet held a storm of negative emotions boiling under the surface, "Aayla, who murdered children?"

She took a deep, shaky breath, and looked him in the eyes. "I can't… it couldn't have been him… he was the best of us all."

"Aayla-"

"Anakin Skywalker," she replied, slowly regaining control. "The one who murdered them was Anakin Skywalker."

Naruto frowned, "You told me stories about him. The Hero with no Fear who won many battles, who killed the Supreme Commander of the Separatists, it was him?"

She nodded, giving into a sudden sob as her memories once again threatened to overwhelm her. "He didn't feel right… Anakin was always one of emotion, but he felt like a blank slate."

Naruto frowned at her, "A clone?"

"Or he cut himself off from his emotions to the point where he became a blank slate to the force. I've seen it happen on the battlefield many times before." She replied, now once again in full control of herself. She reached up to wipe the shed tears from her eyes.

Aayla didn't lie to herself, she had been an emotional mess ever since Order 66 was given, seeing visions of your friends and family dying around you was slowly tipping her over the edge. Without Naruto's help and support she would have lost herself by now. She had only known him for a couple of weeks, but he was now one of her dearest friends.

He pressed his forehead against hers, letting her take in his warmth from his touch. It calmed her. "I promise you this Aayla, I will protect you and everyone I can from this Empire. You have my word."

"And your way is to keep your word," she replied with a broken laugh.

"And for you I _will _keep my word, to my dying breath." Naruto said with a crooked smile, foreheads still touching. Aayla was calm again, eyes closed and a small smile curling her lips upward, "My dear friend and guide."

Neither was aware that they were being watched. Dani Relisa watched the two with widening eyes, before she silently crept away.

* * *

"I'm telling ya, I know what I saw."

"Seriously, that hot Twi'lek gal is actually Jedi Knight Aayla Secura," Ken asked with a teasing smile, before turning to Solen and grinning. "Our little babe has lost it man, been in the cockpit too long."

"Dani for one thing she is not red, Aayla Secura's skin colour is blue, and she didn't have any tattoos last time I seen her either." Solen added for his friend.

"Maybe she used a mind trick to make us think she was someone else, I mean we've heard of the Jedi doing it before." Dani argued back, not willing to give in.

"She does have a point," Lynx spoke up. "What are we going to do about it? You saw the wanted posters on Felucia. The Empire is offering a ten million credit bounty on her head, something about helping in polluting Felucia's water supply."

"Please, I bet you've heard the other stories about her. You know the ones about saving whole peoples, whole communities, and whole planets. Putting her life on the line to save anyone from her own Troopers to innocent people caught in the crossfire. That doesn't sound like someone who would poison a planets water supply." Solen shot back with a frown. "Those charges stink."

"What does the Captain have to say about it?" Dani asked, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive.

"I say we keep quiet about it," Jaden said as he strolled into the central room of his freighter, dressed in his night clothes. "I have also heard about what that women has done, a true Jedi she is who follows their original mandate to protect and defend. I will not hand someone like that over. You've heard the rumours about what happened at their temple, about Troopers killing child and adult alike."

"The official story was that the Knights and Masters at the temple did it." Lynx frowned, before hearing a snort from Solen.

"She did repair our engines for us, both of them." Farr added with a smile. "And she is arguably one of the hottest women in the galaxy, so I vote for the Captain."

Dani frowned, but hung her head. "Alright, alright, I'll go with you guys."

"Shame about the reward though, could have put our money troubles behind us." Lynx muttered, before shaking his head. "Alright I'm with you too."

"Good lad," Kora replied with a nod, before turning to the door leading to their guest's bedroom. "You can come out now."

There was a moment of silence before Naruto entered the room, fully dressed, arms folded and a frown on his face as he looked at the three men and one woman of the _Last Call. _"So what happens now?"

Jaden pulled a cigar and match from his waist pocket, popping it into his mouth and lighting it as he spoke. "Not a damn thing. See, I was always a Jedi Sympathiser, so to speak. In a Republic of corruption and injustice they were the only shining light. So the little lady behind you has our protection."

Aayla appeared through the hatch behind the blond, garbed in a simple nightgown, but her lightsabre was still at her side. "Thank you, Captain."

"Nah, don't thank me." Kora replied as he took a deep drag of his cigar, and blew the smoke into the shape of a ring. "We'll keep our end of the bargain, as long as you're on my ship your safe. Any time you need a ride you just call. Sure I can't offer you two places on my crew?"

Aayla shook her head, tails swirling. "We will not place any of you in danger on my account, Captain, nor will we divert you from your business."

"Suit yourself sweetie," Jaden shrugged, clamping his cigar back between his teeth. "But my offer still stands, any time."

* * *

Esseles, third planet in the Essesia system, population just over twenty four billion sentient beings, located in the Core Worlds region of the galaxy and renowned as one of the most civilised and cultured worlds in the Galactic Republic. It was a rugged world, covered in steep cliffs, mountains and caverns, and also possessed a heavy atmosphere leading to a warm, yet wet climate.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm as he looked down, the _Last Call _had just reentered the atmosphere, and the blond had to physically control himself from panicking when he saw the flames of the upper atmosphere lick against the ships cockpit windows, trying to find a weakness in the freighters structure. If the entry into the atmosphere didn't scare him, seeing the ground several thousand kilometres down certainly did, just a massive expanse of greens and browns which got closer and closer at an alarming rate.

The blond flinched as the _Last Call _levelled out, and he heard Jaden laugh boisterously from his pilot's seat. "Not much of a flier are ya kid?"

"It's his first time," Aayla spoke up in his defence.

"Sage, help me," Naruto breathed as they slowed, and Aayla was actually worried that he might go into a panic. "That was awesome! Can we do it again!"

Both Jaden and Dani laughed at that, "A daredevil eh?"

"You bet," Naruto grinned like a madman.

"Well sorry kid, but if ya want to do it again it'll cost ya extra," Kora grinned, before pulling forward on the throttle. "We're coming up on the capital, just over this ridge."

The freighter went over the top of the mountain, and Naruto stared at a city he would consider a utopia. Calamar was a city dominated by grand architectural buildings of smooth lines and easy colours, stretching from one side of the considerable valley to the other. Its landscape was dominated by not just beautiful buildings but vast gardens and parks. It made Konoha look like a backwater city.

"Wow," he found himself saying. "It's beautiful."

"Yea, that it is kid. One of the most cultured and beautiful cities in the galaxy Calamar is."

"Calamar control, this is the Freighter _Last Call, _caller identification three, nine, seven, six, five, nine; requesting permission to dock." Dani's sweet voice spoke, and for a moment Naruto wondered what she was doing. He nearly jumped in surprise when he heard static, and an accented male voice answered her.

"_Last Call, _this is Calamar control, permission granted. Set her down at docking bat number eleven."

"Copy that, thanks control."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Thank you to everyone who continue to show your support; not just by reviewing but by placing this story on C2's, authors alerts and favourites. It means a hell of a lot when I log in and see how many people are following this story. Thank you again everyone, thank you.

_**Author's Note 3: **_On a sadder note this is as far as I have gotten at the moment with the story, so updates may slow to once every two weeks. I'm not saying it will happen, but I'm just covering my ass here in case it actually does happen. Hope you all enjoyed the story thus far, and I will try to continue updating every Sunday. This one and A Long Way From Home take first place in my book.


	6. Saving the Damsels?

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Saving the Damsels?**_

It was a dark, dank place. Not quite something you would expect in the underground below a wealthy man's estate. Then again with this man she should have known to expect the unexpected. Aayla was thrown into the cell with a little more force than was necessary, losing her footing and landing flat against her stomach into a puddle of water.

She rolled over and propped herself on her elbows, looking back at the cell door as the crimson light of a ray shield came online, confining her to this tiny little cell. Her assailants, a unit of ten ancient battle-droids of skeletal design looked back at her with eerie glowing red eyes.

"Now be a good little flesh sack and stay here, the master will take care of you after his dinner." The central one said in a mechanical voice. Not like the laughable voiceovers of the Separatist battle-droids, this one was designed to sow fear into the minds of opponents.

Aayla's eyes narrowed at the droids comment, well aware of what he was having for _dinner_. Such a monstrous dereliction of humanity was the main reason she allowed herself to be captured like this. All she had heard were rumours really, about a very wealthy lord, a man called Dezono Qua. He was an extremely wealthy man, the last of a dynasty that few people on the planet liked. He was a recluse, living in his heavily guarded family villa overlooking the capital.

There were rumours circulating among the common people about his inhumane activities, mainly him sending his protocol droid to an independent slaving planet in the Outer-Rim to buy young children of any race, humanoid or otherwise, and bring them back to his villa where he would literally eat them. She had dismissed it as rumours at first, but the force had other ideas. The rumours felt wrong, and she felt it was her duty as a Jedi Knight to at least look into it.

She had packed her bags, told Naruto she would be back by sundown and hiked into the mountains in the direction of his estate. Aayla knew for a fact Naruto didn't believe her story that she just wanted a break from the cityscape, somewhere quiet to rest and meditate on their next move. But he let her go; telling her that if she wasn't back by sundown then he'd go after her.

Unconsciously she smiled at the memory. Naruto had become slightly overprotective of her, and it was a flattering gesture. Aayla considered bringing Naruto along, but she dismissed the idea. As capable as he was Naruto wasn't the stealthy type. She had risen at dawn and taken a hover-tram to the outskirts of the city, where she had hefted her duffel bag and begun her trek through the mountainous terrain leading up to this man's villa.

Apparently he didn't like people wandering around the land around his estate, let alone the grounds he owned. She was a good five kilometres from his estate before she was jumped by a squad of patrolling Battle-Droids, IG-series, old but very reliable battle and assassin droids, favourites among merchants and bounty hunters who wanted their own cheap, efficient and deadly private army. She had surrendered without a struggle, dragged to Qua's estate, and thrown into this cell.

She looked around her new living quarters and sighed.

Naruto was going to kill her for this.

A sniffle caught her attention, and her head darted up, fully alert. There was a silhouette at the other end of the cell, curled up, back pressed against the back right corner of the tiny cell. Aayla strained her ears, and heard low level sniffling and sobbing. She frowned before crawling over to the sound of the noise. She heard a quick gasp, followed by the little creature pressing herself further against the corner.

"Hello?" Aayla called softly, crawling a few more slow inches towards the child, yes it was a child, barely five or six years old she would guess. The child curled up further, sobbing silently as she approached.

Aayla began to pick out little bits and pieces of information in the gloom, mainly by calling upon the force to gently adapt her eyes to the darkness. It wasn't a humanoid child. It was reptilian, dressed in a tattered purple dress, a she. Her skin colour was dark, covered in smooth scales and a frill of spiky horns. A Nosaurian she realised, native to the planet of New Plympto. It wasn't a very long way away from Esseles, but she had heard it was one of the last few Confederate strongholds in the Core.

The little Nosaurian dug her head into her knees, crying softly in fright. Aayla crawled up beside her and sat down, pressing her back against the wall and looking down at the smaller girl. She gave her a small nudge. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm stuck in here same as you, alright?"

The girl looked up at Aayla with watery eyes, poor thing must have been crying for quite a while if her bloodshot orbs were any designation. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"R-resa… Gree-Greenbark." She stuttered, looking up at her with wide orbs.

"A beautiful name, sweetheart," Aayla replied with as soft a smile as she could. "What are you doing in here?"

"I-I-I was home… daddy was fighting, a-and we were supposed to evac-evac…" her little features lit up into a frown as she tried to say the word. Aayla felt a painful memory of her visions of the temple massacre, but pushed them to the back of her mind.

"Evacuate?" she asked helpfully.

"Yea, t-that's it." The little girl replied, slowly gaining confidence. "Daddy said he'd met up with us, and we left for the spaceport… but we were taken by bad men in white armour. They herded us into ships and took us to this nasty place. They threw me and mommy into a cage with the rest of us. We were in there for a while, it stank and it was sweaty and someone hit me and it really hurt."

Aayla watched as the girl started to sniffle again, and felt her heart break for her. "Then some droid came. I was taken out of the cell, but mommy tried to stop them. They hit her over the head and she didn't get back up." The girl was crying now, unrestrained. "I want my mommy, I want my daddy!"

The young Jedi reached out to her, and began to rub her back. The girl just sat there, crying for a moment before she flew into her arms and released a body jarring sob. Aayla held the girl, caressing her horned frill to try and calm her. "Hush little one. It's all going to be alright. Hey, how about I make you a promise?"

She looked up at her, tears cascading down her features. She hiccupped her next few words, "A promise?"

"How about, after I get you out of here, we go and find your dad, how does that sound?"

The girl looked her in the eyes. "You mean it?"

"You bet." Aayla replied with a smile. _Naruto, if you can hear me get here fast._

The ray shield at the end of their cell deactivated and three IG-series droids filed in, levelling rifles at her and the child in her arms. Aayla looked up at them with a glare of anger, anger which was fuelled as the lead droid spoke. "The child comes with us."

"Oh," she replied, reaching out with her free hand, palm up. "I really don't think so."

* * *

There were advantages to being paranoid he supposed. Aayla coming in out of the blue, telling him she needed fresh air and countryside was a little strange, telling him she needed to go alone was stranger.

Naruto felt a little guilty about sending a clone after her to keep tabs, but his fears turned out to be much founded. The clone witnessed her being ambushed and snatched by a bunch of robotic creatures, droids he think she called them. His clone had followed the group back to their base of operations, where he was surprised and dispelled by the blaster fire of another droid.

The first words to come out of the original was something along the lines of 'oh shit' followed by a line of curses his sensei's would frown, or applaud over, depending on who you were thinking off. For example Tsunade would frown when he started cursing in every curse word he had picked up in his twenty three odd years, but Jiraiya on the other hand would clap his hands and give him thumbs up.

The two of them had lived in the capital of Esseles for a little over a week, and had managed to secure a loan under false names and rent an apartment located on the outskirts of the city. They had successfully hidden themselves in the population. Aayla, going by her alter alias Jaayza, had managed to secure a job as a mechanic at a local hover-taxi firm, while he had gained some work as a bouncer in a local nightclub.

All seemed to be going well.

Then she had to go out into the countryside for some 'fresh air' and get herself caught by the private army of some child eating psychopath, granted there was no evidence but rumour, but for something like that he was willing to believe in the worst, it certainly got him out there faster. Sage only knew what he'd do to a grown woman, an extremely hot grown woman. He'd probably have her for breakfast, and get off on it too. So Naruto had done what any red blooded male of his species would have done, ran across the city into the countryside and followed his clone's memories to the villa.

Which was where he was right now, he might add.

Only took him two hours to get out here.

He had to admit he did not see Aayla as the kidnapped, damsel in distress type. He knew for a fact she was capable of either crippling or utterly destroying those Battle-Droids in the same amount of time as it would take him to count from one to five. So why had she not done so? He swore if it was a feeling from the force again he would demand she stop using that energy field and convert completely to using her chakra reserves. No little annoying tug in the back of her head leading her to certain death, just a nice little reservoir of energy she could harness and unleash at will.

Security was tight, there must have been at least a hundred of these lanky droids surrounding the perimeter of his little fortress, he meant villa. But even though Naruto wasn't the stealthiest of opponents he was able to make it up the sheer cliffs to the villa without being noticed, thank the sage for the Tree Climbing Exercise. The man's home was nestled against the side of a mountain, with sheer drops on all sides and only a single pathway barely big enough for a hover-car leading up to the only entrance. Walls protected the main building and courtyard, smooth structures at least ten meters tall and within there must have been at least another unit of between twenty and thirty Battle-droids positioned in the courtyards and balconies.

Looking down at the security Naruto wondered why a man would want to live alone up here, all by himself with his only company being a legion of Battle-droids. He supposed it must be why the man was considered a loon, if the rumours about eating children were true, and if they were true the first thing he would do when he met him was introduce him to a Rasengan to the chest.

But Aayla was in there, and rescuing her came first. Placing his hands together in a cross sign he took a deep breath before whispering the incantation to his favourite brand of Ninjutsu, _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Eight clones came into existence around him, four at either side set up in a battle line formation. The original looked to his left, then his right, a grin on his whiskered features. "Spread out, find Aayla, and if you do find her get her the hell out of here!"

They all nodded, before taking off with chakra propelled leaps. No one seemed to notice them yet, and he guessed Battle-droids weren't quite as good as flesh and blood guards. At least they would have looked up by now.

Naruto began to think, what would be the best way to go about this? He supposed he could make a small army of _Kage Bunshin_, annihilate the enemy with katana, kunai, shuriken, blasters and elemental Jutsu. It would be flashy, destructive, and probably bring the Imperial garrison and local armed forces down on their heads. He needed something a little less flashy, a diversion perhaps.

He grinned, and spread his awareness out, finding the minds of all eight clones, "Change of plan boys, create a diversion and I'll find her."

There was a chorus of acknowledgement before the clones sprang into action, jumping from their perches right into the courtyards and upper balconies. The droids quickly realised the threat and activated their basic defence protocols. They aimed their blasters and let loss. Naruto frowned at the scene, not expecting a kill on sight order, but his clones rose to the challenge.

He took a deep breath and went through the hand seal for the tiger, _"__Meisaigakure no Jutsu."_

His chakra flared, taking the light surrounding his form and bending it around his body. To the naked eye he was as good as invisible to anyone including, he hoped, droids. Technique done he broke off into a run around the outer wall of the fortress/villa until he reached the section where the defensive wall melded with the rock of the mountain and with a chakra enhanced leap flew across the small courtyard. He performed a somersault and concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet, landing on the smooth white wall of the main structure in a crouch, and began to scale it at a simple walk.

He reached a balcony, and moved inside the villa. The interior was something one would expect from royalty, beautifully tiled floors, and smooth mocha coloured walls decorated with exquisite paintings. A carpet was set out along the centre, royal blue in colour, and the corridor itself seemed more like a cavern than a hallway, five, maybe six meters across with the flat roof held up by meter thick marble stone pillars.

Two clones had just been dispelled from the commotion outside, and Naruto knew he wouldn't have long before his little diversion ended. What to do? Make another one. He created another five clones, who all had a grin to mirror his own. "Alright second wave, find some place full of rare and priceless items and start blowing them up."

"Yes boss," they all roared in agreement before taking off in different directions.

That done he took off down the corridor at top speed, sniffing the air with his upgraded sense of smell to find Aayla's scent. It was here, weak but it was there. He followed it with speed, feeling mixed tingles of relief and fear as it got stronger, he slipped down the banisters of stairs, and found very little in the way of droid security. Another two clones were dispelled outside, and their influx of memories told him why. There were almost three times as many droids out there now as there was before.

By now he was on the bottom floor of the villa, and frowned when after a few minutes of searching he could not find another access further down. Aayla's scent was at its strongest at a turbolift, a peculiar device which allowed a person to travel up and down floors without the need to walk. There was no button for a lower level on the console, so he improvised. Using his chakra enhanced strength to rip open the floor of the lift like a tuna can.

There was at least another three levels below, so with a sigh the blond began to walk down along the walls. She was on the second level down, and so he forced open the lift doors and walked through into a long, dank corridor, with only minimal lighting from dull glow lamps. It sort of reminded him of his own mindscape before he took control of the powers of the Kyūbi no Yoko. Finally he rounded a corner, and frowned.

* * *

Crys Taanzer thumbed back a strand of blond hair as she continued to pilot the ship into the lower atmosphere, activating the anti-air guard as they burned their way through the atmosphere of the planet Esseles towards their target. The young pilot kept a steady hand on the control stick of the freighter, keeping her steady.

The ship she was piloting was a good ship, a _Maka-Eekai L-4000 Transport_ known as the _Uhumele_. She was an old ship of boxy design, but she was also a well kept vessel and had a few defensive modifications which were not in her original schematic. The crew of this vessel was a proper motley bunch, victims from across the galaxy, banded together to help each other.

She knew he was there before he spoke to her, one of the crew's newest recruits, a human like herself with long white hair and rugged features. Dass Jennir had come aboard with a Nosaurian named Bomo Greenbark, both were former Separatist resistance fighters who were lucky to survive the final battles of New Plympto.

Crys had only heard rumours, but she had heard that the Nosaurian army had been murdered to the last man, their family's captured by Clone Troopers and sold into slavery. How true the rumours were. Now the crew of the _Uhumele _had volunteered to help the Nosaurian get his daughter back. The trail had led them to the slave planet of Orvax IV, where they found that Bomo's wife was dead and his daughter had been taken by a droid working for a man named Dezono Qua on the planet Esseles.

Dass had killed the slaver and they had taken off for the core planet, determined now more than ever to get Bomo Greenbark's daughter back to him. Crys understood his pain better than he could ever have known. She had lost her husband to the Separatists when they attacked their little village, and her son had been taken by the Jedi soon after. For all she knew he was dead too. She was truly a woman with nothing to lose.

"Will we be in position?"

She nodded her head, "Be ready, we land in two minutes, and expect an unfriendly welcome. The bastard has his own personal army of battle droids down there."

"Noted," he replied. "I'll tell the captain."

He turned to leave, but stopped when he heard her voice call out to him. "Be careful ya hear?"

"Always," he replied. "Contact Ko and tell him to be ready to deploy the rear gun turret."

"Will do,"

* * *

Dezono Qua was having a very bad day, worst thing was that when he woke up this morning it seemed that today was going to be a very good day. The sun was splitting the heavens, no problems with his security systems and he had just learned that the slave girl he had purchased from his usual slaver on Orvax IV had just arrived last night, ready for his protocol droid, E-10, to cook and serve the child to him.

Dezono was an extremely wealthy man, the last in a line of highly successful merchants whose roots went back thousands of years. He had a lot of money, and was a man who liked his privacy. He was also a man who was able to do anything he pleased, over the years he had bought a number of slaves, mainly children, but also a few adults and had found a very delightful pastime to have his droids cook and serve them to him.

The local authorities were not an issue, over the years he had become one of the main funders to the local police forces, and had even made a few friends in the Esseles government who could make any evidence of his dealings simply disappear, along with the records of anyone he decided to devour.

He looked back as he surveyed the chaos and horror before him, and decided this whole catastrophe began when one of his IG battle droid squads had found and captured a Twi'lek backpacker, a striking young beauty whom he considered perfect for dinner the next evening. At the time he thought his day couldn't possibly get any better.

That was when everything had been shot to hell, literarily.

It started with a commotion outside, a group of identical ruffians were able to sneak into his villa and begin systematically tearing his aesthetically pleasing decorations, fountains, statues, pathways, to shreds. He had ordered his droids to kill the interlopers, but that turned out to do more damage than even the intruders could do. He sent every droid he had out there to kill them, and decided to relax in his private study full of intricate works of art he had collected over the years, paintings, statues, you name it. It was one of the most secure rooms in the villa.

What he had found was so shocking that he felt his mouth hang open like a guppy. There were three more intruders in his private study, armed with blasters, throwing his valuable statues into the air while another one used it for target practise. It reminded him of skeet shooting, only with his collection of highly expensive valuables instead of skeet.

It didn't escape his notice that they were almost identical to the interlopers outside. In fact he couldn't tell them apart at all. They all had blond hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, whisker marks on their cheeks and they were all armed with very deadly looking blaster pistols.

A priceless statue of Empress Teta went soaring into the air, and the central clone drew his blaster with lightning quickness and fired a single shot, hitting the millennia old statue in the abdomen and blasting it into a hundred pieces. "Nice shot man, now it's my turn. You see that one over there, the one that looks like a cross between a toad and a monkey?"

"Yea,"

"Throw it up for me will ya,"

"Sure thing,"

He picked up a small thirty centimetre tall statue of his grandfather and threw it into the air. The other clone copied his formers motion, drawing his blaster and blasting it to shards with a single bolt. Looking around Qua guessed they were at this for a while considering how many pieces of marble and burning portraits were on the floor.

"This is so much fun," the third clone exclaimed in delight, grinning like a child who had found his favourite toy. "Now it's my turn, each of you grab a statue. I bet you I'll be able to blow them both up with a shot each before they hit the floor."

"You're on," the other two were immediately running around, one grabbed a statue of his father, the other bashed open his drinks cabinet with a shattering of glass and pulled out a bottle of Corellian whiskey, 1008 whiskey, the best year the brand had ever had. They threw them in the air in unison and the last clone stood in the centre in almost perfect serenity. The moment he opened his eyes he flew into action, drawing both pistols from his utility belt and firing a single bolt each, blasting both the statue and the priceless whiskey bottle into pieces.

"Hey that's not fair!" one exclaimed, even as Qua felt like crying.

"What do ya mean?"

"You used both pistols!"

"So what, I said nothing about using a single blaster!"

"You cheating son of a-"

"You little bastards," Dezono screamed at last, catching the attention of the three vigilantes in his private chambers. "How could you use such priceless antiques for target practise? Some of these are worth millions of credits!"

"Really," the central one asked with a frown, "this junk!"

"Hold on a minute," the one on the right piped up. "Are you this Dezono Qua guy?"

"Yes," he replied, a little dumbstruck.

"Is it true that you buy kids and eat them?"

He considered against this, but they were going to die anyway. "Not quite, I also eat adults, but children are so much easier to… digest."

The three clones looked disgusted and horrified, and finally the one on the left asked _the_ question, in a small voice, "Why?"

He grinned wickedly, "Because I can."

The central one growled low in his throat, and drew a blaster pistol in a smooth motion, pointing it to his head. "Not good enough!"

Before he could pull the trigger there was a massive explosion which shook the very superstructure of the villa, followed by another, and a third one which tore through the roof of his study, causing its remains to fall on the three interlopers, burying them in debris. Dezono looked on in horror before turning tail and running. Someone was attacking his villa, and he needed to escape.

* * *

"So here you are," he said with a smirk. Aayla was sitting within the small opening of what looked like a cell without a barred door, cradling a little reptilian creature in her arms. At the entrance were the sparking wrecks of between three and four battledroids. He walked into the chamber, absently kicking one in the rear and sending it sprawling. "And here I was thinking you'd gone and gotten yourself kidnapped. I was hoping to play the hero recuing the beautiful damsel in distress."

She smiled wryly, "Sorry to disappoint you."

"I mean I had this whole heroic speech planned before I would sweep you off your feet and carry you from this place," he continued a little too dramatically, watching as her smile turned into a frown.

"Okay, I'm sorry for going off without telling you, but you wouldn't have let me go otherwise," she replied.

"You're right, if I had heard of this lunacy I would have tied you to the bed with steel cables. I mean going off on your own to check out a man with an army of battle droids, whose rumours make him out to be a child eating psychopath is like… it's like…"

"Something you would do?" she asked, wry smile returning.

"Exactly," he replied without missing a beat. Then his eyes turned to the small lizard cradled in her arms. It, for he didn't know gender yet, reminded him of a Dinosaur, small in stature, scaly skin a dark amber like colour, a frill of horns stretched from her head with a beak like mouth. The little creature was dressed in a torn light purple dress, and was stirring from her slumber. "So… um, what is that?"

Aayla gave him a piercing look, "Her name is Resa Greenbark and she is a Nosaurian native to New Plympto."

"Thanks for clearing that up,"

"You're welcome,"

By now the child had been awoken from her slumber, and was looking around the dreary cell with blinking dark eyes. She looked at the sparking wrecks of the droids first, then up at Naruto. Her little eyes widened and she began to press herself further against Aayla. The Jedi saw this, and began to caress her frill tenderly, whispering assurances into the frightened Nosaurian child's ear. "It's alright; he's not going to hurt you. He's a friend of mine."

She seemed to relax slightly, but her orbs remained fixated on him. She spoke, voice quivering with fear. "He'd not here to eat me?"

Naruto looked absolutely mortified; luckily Aayla spoke before he could let his mortification be known. "Don't worry; he's not here to eat you. He's here to help me get you out."

Naruto smiled softly, and came down in a crouch, "She's right little one. I'm not here to hurt you. Have you ever heard of the Cavalry coming to the rescue?"

She nodded meekly.

"Well I'm the Cavalry." Naruto said with a smile, "And now it's time for us to leave."

He winced as a sudden influx of memories returned to him, all four remaining clones in the courtyard had just been dispelled simultaneously by what looked like blasts of light from the sky, and another three from the inside of the villa also dispelled when the roof caved in. He felt satisfaction in that they had found a room full of priceless paintings and statues, and were using them for target practise right in front of the evil psychopath himself. "Something's wrong."

Suddenly the entire structure of the level shook violently; dust and pieces of loose granite fell from the walls and a terrible crash assaulted his ears. He looked out the cell and down the corridor in time to see several lights flicker. "What in the name of the Sage was that!"

Aayla was already up and moving to his side, holding the now terrified child in her arms. "This place is under attack. We need to go now!"

"Lead the way."

* * *

"Why?" Dass Jennir could find that singular word the only thing he was capable of saying. They had broken through his defences, shattered his droids and reduced his villa to rubble. They had captured the madman before he was able to escape aboard his personal yacht, yet everything they had done had been for nothing, he had killed her. Bomo was looking at the man, skin paling and eyes wide open in pure unadulterated horror. His little girl had been eaten by this man. "Why buy a child just to kill and eat her?"

Dass felt he was no longer looking at a human being, no, looking into this man's heartless, dead eyes he felt like he was looking into the eyes of a monster. He grit his teeth in rage, as a Knight of the Jedi Order he was taught to never let his emotions overtake him, yet just seeing this man tell them what he had done, yet looking ever so smug about it almost put him over the edge. Already he saw the fellow crew of Captain Schurk-Heren's _Uhumele_ slowly reach for their blasters and assorted weapons, ready to kill this man.

Qua smiled, an evil smile if he ever saw one, and answered in a voice full of mocking, "Because I can."

Bomo roared in anger, already fumbling for his blaster, but Jennir beat him too it. The man was so full of hatred, disgust and anger for this supposed fellow member of the human race that he drew his blaster with speed and shot him three times in the chest. The monster fell back, eyes wide open as he hit the ground and lay sprawled.

Bomo Greenbark looked at the body, then at Jennir and released a guttural roar of anger. The Nosaurian grabbed the taller human with unsuspecting strength and started to cry. "What have you done! His death was mine to take, not yours!"

Jennir looked at his friend, face full of sorrow and pity that only drove the Nosaurian further into his anger. "If I let you take his life then you'll be no better than him, it's my burden to bear."

The Nosaurian snarled angrily, "You people have always thought you know best don't you! Always so high and mighty above the rest of us, well blast you _Jedi_!"

Silence fell across the various members of the _Uhumele _crew as what Bomo Greenbark said slowly filtered into their skulls. It was Crys who said that word again, as much in disbelief and shock as the other members of the crew, "Jedi?"

Bomo immediately knew his folly, and immediately regretted it. Dass looked at his friend with the same sadness, pity and remorse as ever. Before anyone could speak they heard voices far below, in the central courtyard of the once impressive villa. A feminine voice spoke first, silky and cultured yet with a hint of steel.

"You see, this is why I didn't bring you along," she said with a voice of half mirth and half irritation. "I wanted to simply get in, get the girl, and get out quietly and not bring half the planet's security forces down on our heads. If I brought you along it would have ended up… well… like this!"

The other voice was gravelly, definitely male, and definitely sounding very insulted. "This was not my doing, I swear to the Sage of the Six Paths it wasn't me!"

"Please, there's no one else who doesn't understand the term overkill more than you," the female replied with a little too much mirth. "On Felucia you turned a block of wood wired with thermal detonators into a perfect picture of me, and detonated it in the middle of an Imperial Inquisitorious cadre. This is definitely within your abilities!"

"Yes, it's within my abilities," the male voice allowed. "But this was not my doing. I wanted this to be as quiet as possible. I only created eight clones here to cause a ruckus, then another five to cause chaos in the main house while I went looking for you and your little _Nosaurian_ friend. This was something else!"

Upon hearing the word _Nosaurian_ Bomo ran across the main landing platform, at the top of the now ruined villa and looked over the edge with almost manic eyes. There, walking through the middle of the debris field which was once the main courtyard were two figures. One was a slender Twi'lek with dark blue skin in skin tight leather, and the other was a tall blond human. It was a long way away so he couldn't make out any other features, but he noticed a little bundle wrapped in the Twi'lek females arms.

By now the others members of the crew had caught up with him, including Jennir and Crys and were all looking over the edge at the duo. Bomo spoke, voice dry. "Does anyone have a pair of binoculars?"

Lynaliskar K'ra Snyffulnimatta, known to the crew as Sniffles courtesy of Crys, handed the Nosaurian a pair, and Bomo looked through them to get a better view of what was held in the Twi'lek woman's arms. It was a Nosaurian, half hidden within the folds of a dirty gray blanket, she looked tired and nervous, but he recognised her the moment he saw her.

It was his daughter.

"Resa!"

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Believe it or not all of the introduced characters are canon, look them up on Wookiepedia if you don't believe me. They are all characters of the comic book series Dark Times, which I was reading until recently. I didn't like the way the story went after they killed my favourite female character of the series, so I stopped reading (It isn't Resa by the way, try again lol). This idea has actually been in my head for a couple of months, since I started writing it down some three or four months ago.

_**Author's Note 3: **_Thank god I was able to get this chapter done on time, finished on Sunday, 10:07pm British standard time. I will try and keep the updates weekly, if I fail on that I will try and make them every fortnight, but it's getting a little tougher with University and all. Still I'll try, peace out.


	7. Uhumele

_**Chapter 6**_

_**Uhumele**_

Bomo Greenbark's cry ultimately fell on deaf ears as Naruto and Aayla continued to walk through the destroyed remnants of the once great courtyards of the late Dezono Qua, still unaware that the recently deceased had become the recently deceased. By the time they were half way through the courtyard their new acquaintance began to fidget in Aayla's arms.

"What is it young one?" Aayla asked, bringing the tiny little Nosaurian's attention to her worried features.

The child began to fidget once again, this time in embarrassment. "Um, I can walk on my own now, if that's alright?"

She smiled softly before crouching to allow her passenger off; Resa was on her feet in seconds, then stumbling in seconds. A hand from one of her rescuers was welcome. She looked up to see Naruto, offering her a hand with a kind smile. "You need a hand hun?"

She blushed slightly, before nodding her head and timidly taking the towering humans hand. Humans always seemed to be so tall, she had never seen a single human smaller than her parents, and they were really, really big. Once her tiny clawed hand was secured in his huge, calloused five fingered fist the trio began to walk again at a more sedate pass.

"Oh, that's right," Resa looked up at Naruto as he fished inside one of his pockets, and tossed Aayla the device within. "You left this lying around as well, what am I going to do with you?"

The little Nosaurian may have been sheltered from recent events by her parents, but even she knew exactly what the cylindrical device was, and she was awed by it as Aayla caught it in a fluent motion and clipped it to her utility belt. "He would have known what I was if he saw it, so I left it behind."

Naruto frowned at her, "Good answer, but even I know how deadly you are even without one of those things. You threw me across our training ground remember?"

"That was a reflex," she replied a little indignantly, before her sensual voice returned to a lower tone. "And I said I was sorry."

Naruto would never forget that training day. He had gone a little too hard on her in training and in defence she had raised her hand and released a powerful, at least for her, force push. The result was Naruto thrown across the field like a ragdoll and breaking through several trees. It hurt like hell, and told him that although Aayla hadn't been able to harness chakra until now she was far from defenceless.

"You still have to teach me to do that," he muttered, and she smiled at his supposed sombre mood.

"All in good time, when we're not being chased by every mercenary and Inquisitor in the galaxy," she replied, waggling her right hands index finger left and right. "Even you training me in your chakra manipulation has been put on hold, remember?"

Naruto nodded his head, knowing two things; that she was right and trying to convince her to concede the argument would take longer than they had. He had taught her the basics in near record time, but with them getting settled and blending in the whole training regime had been put on an indefinite hold. A shame, as he wondered which element she was strongest related too, and which skill she would have an affinity for.

"Excuse me," both looked down to the tiny Nosaurian, and she unconsciously flinched at their rapt attention. Resa turned to Aayla, studying her for what seemed like an eternity before she spoke. "Are you a Jedi?"

Aayla was silent for a moment, before she fixed the child with a soft smile. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"You're lightsabre, only Jedi carry those," was her naïve answer, pointing to the hilt now attached to her belt. Aayla looked down at her hilt for a few moments, remembering the scores of lives she had been forced to take with her blade. Droids weren't the Confederacy's only soldiers of war, and on many occasions she had been forced to abandon the creed of non-violence a Jedi took, to fight and kill males and females of flesh and blood. "Daddy said Jedi were bad, but you're not."

She didn't know how to reply to the Childs statement, but Naruto knew and took over for her. "No one is entirely bad or good little one. They just follow their own ideals and loyalties, and on many occasions people find themselves fighting against each other for different reasons. There are very few conflicts where the opposing factions are simply good or evil."

She was surprised when the child seemed to understand the blonds' statement, nodding her head before taking on a thoughtful frown. "What about the bad man in there?"

Naruto grinned, "Well there are some exceptions, but in most conflicts no one is really good or evil. It all depends on the route they take."

The child seemed to understand, yet in everything regarding children the next path they took was always uncertain. "Are you two together?"

Both looked down upon the youngling like she had gone completely insane, and thankfully for Naruto Aayla took over. "What do you mean hun?"

"Ya know, together, a couple, stuff like that," she said animatedly, waving her arms to get her point across. "It's just that the two of you act like my mommy and daddy used too."

Both stared at her, wide eyed. Naruto spoke, or rather stuttered first. "No, no we aren't a couple."

"That's right," Aayla added, also looking a little jittery. "We're partners."

Both paled at the statement, Naruto immediately moved to close off that avenue, knowing that it was a wasted effort. "But not couple partners."

"Friends,"

"Brother and sister in arms,"

"Allies of circumstance,"

"Yea… wait, hold on," Naruto looked at her with a raised brow. "I'm an ally of circumstance?"

She waved her hands pleadingly, "I didn't mean it like that, oh force me."

Laughter tittered across their field of hearing, and both looked down to see Resa trying and failing to hold in her mirth, "You're just like my mommy and daddy."

This time the two clamped their mouths shut, painfully aware that they're cheeks were turning rosy red and darkened blue respectively. So caught up they were in this little conversation that they had forgotten where they were.

"Let go of my daughter!"

Naruto and Aayla looked around to find themselves on the receiving end of a dozen odd blaster rifles and pistols, held by a proper motley crew of men and women, human and otherwise. Naruto had never seen most of the races represented here in his life, but considering how long he had been out here it wasn't saying much. He saw at least two humans, a white haired male and a very attractive young woman with long darkened blonde hair, and a Nosaurian like Resa with darker skin and a more spiked frill.

Truth be told they had known of their presence for a while, but decided to hang back and see what their angle was. Naruto's first guess was that they were either pirates or mercenaries looking to make a quick credit in capturing them and selling them to either slavers or the local authorities, yet the actions of their much younger charge changed his mind.

"Daddy!"

Little Resa released herself from Naruto's grip and rushed across the field into the Nosaurians waiting arms. He took her and spun her around, laughing and crying at the same time as he did so, before hugging her closely. The crew looked on, entirely surprised that the rescue mission had gone as easy as it just had.

Naruto looked at his partner closely for a moment, "So should we surrender or draw weapons?"

She looked at him uncertainly, "Why do you want to draw?"

"Oh, you know, a dozen people pointing blasters at us," he replied before the two moved in quick unison. Naruto drew his two blaster pistols. Aayla unclipped her lightsabre and thumbed the activation switch, allowing the weapons signature _shap-hiss _to make its presence known. The others drew their weapons and held them steady, all except one. The white haired human frowned as he holstered his blaster and took a few steps forward, hands raised in surrender.

"Master Secura, is that you?"

Aayla frowned for a few moments before she seemed to recognise his face, and slowly lowered her ignited weapon. "Dass Jennir, Jedi Master Dass Jennir?"

"You know this guy?" Naruto asked, seeing her nod.

"He was a General, same as me. We meet a few times in briefings and updated tactical reports at the temple," she kept her lightsabre lit and ready.

Thankfully help came in the form of the child they saved, who was now squirming to get her father's attention. "Daddy, daddy, this is Aayla and Naruto. They were the ones who saved me! Please don't hurt them, please!"

"Alright," one of the aliens said in a heavily accented voice. "There's no need for violence, just put your weapons down and we'll do the same."

Naruto smiled nervously, before holstering both of his pistols and raising his hands in surrender. Aayla frowned, but nodded her head and deactivated her lightsabre, clipping the hilt to her utility belt. One by one the others slowly lowered or holstered their assorted blaster rifles and pistols. A tense silence followed, broken when the adult Nosaurian spoke.

"So, you saved my daughter eh?"

Naruto shrugged, "More or less, but if you should thank anyone thank Aayla. If she hadn't gotten herself captured you're daughter would have been cannibal food."

Bomo Greenbark eyed the Jedi Knight for a moment, before putting his daughter down and bowing his head low. "Thank you."

Aayla nodded with a soft smile, "Glad I could help."

One of the aliens, this one humanoid with maroon coloured skin and a crown of blade like horns on his head spoke up, typing commands into a small wrist device. "Uh guys, we really need to go. Looks like local law enforcement have been called, eta three minutes."

The leader nodded his head, "Let's go people!"

"What about those two," Bomo asked, waving his free hand towards Naruto and Aayla, his daughter held securely in the other. "They saved my daughter's life, we can't leave them here!"

"Another Jedi would be helpful boss," another of the aliens spoke up, this one wearing what looked like a hakuma and wide brimmed straw hat.

"Can we afford to take them though," the blonde woman asked with a frown. "We barely have enough room as it is."

The leader of the group was thoughtful for a moment, before nodding his head. "We take them with us. Get a move on you two!"

"Do we have a choice," Naruto asked a little wryly as the group took off in a jog towards the landing bay.

* * *

"We're clear, looks like we managed to get away before they spotted us," Crys stated as she piloted the _Uhumele _into the upper atmosphere, breaking from the planets gravity well into open space.

Schurk-Heren, Captain of the _Uhumele _nodded his head before sagging against the co-pilots chair in relief. "Good, good, was worried there for a moment. Plot a course to hyperspace, let's get out of here."

"Where too," Crys asked as she began typing commands into the hyperdrive navigator.

"Doesn't matter, just follow the Perlemian to the Outer-Rim for now, we'll decide where to go later." He replied as he unbuckled himself from his crash webbing and rose to his feet. "We also need to deal with our surprise guests. Will you be alright with letting them stay for now?"

"You're the Captain, my personal feelings mean nothing." She replied a little tersely.

Shurk sighed, "I'm asking you because of your past Crys, will you be alright with letting them stay?"

She didn't answer, instead putting all of her concentration into the navigational charts. Sighing again the Yarkora Captain exited the cockpit and walked down the corridor into the main chamber of the _Uhumele, _a large living space which included a living room, a side kitchen and several doors leading to living quarters. If he wasn't mistaken their two new associates had been locked in the central room.

Mezgraf sat in a steel chair just outside of the room, blaster rifle in arm as he stood guard, the white furred Togorian was fully awake and alert, and was more than capable of dealing with most types of trouble. Leaning against the kitchen worktop was his crews other hired gun. Ko Vakier. The Blood Carver seemed relaxed, but this was a ploy. He was ready for almost everything, three digit clawed hand resting on the sheathed hilt of his vibroblade.

The Captain knew that Sniffles, Janks and Meekerdin-Maa were in the engine room trying to coax some more power out of the hyperdrive coils, and Bomo was sitting on one of the worn sofas, hand petting his sleeping daughters frill. He looked at her as if she would disappear any moment. That only left one member unaccounted for, their residential Jedi Master. Like the rest of the crew Schurk-Heren had thought Jinner was another Separatist freedom fighter like Bomo. He had no idea they were housing a Jedi right under their roof.

Now they were housing two Jedi, possibly three. He had nothing against the Jedi Order, and knew full well how useful a couple of Jedi Knights could be in a fight. The problem was the feelings of his crew for them, most would welcome a few additional helping hands, Jedi or otherwise, but the war had made a lot of people bitter and angry.

He walked over to Mezgraf and nodded his head, "Any trouble from them?"

"Not a peep boss," the towering Togorian rumbled. "You want to talk to them now, see what we should do with them?"

Shurk nodded, "And find some answers."

The two opened the door and stepped inside. Both of their guests were sitting at a table, accompanied by Dass, whatever conversation the three were having was silenced when they entered the room and took two chairs on the other side. "Right, so let's get down to business. I take it you two know each other Dass?"

The white haired human nodded his head, "This is Aayla Secura, a Jedi Knight, and the young man here is called… Naruto Uzumaki, right?"

The blond human nodded his head, "He's not a Jedi, but he saved Aayla's life on Felucia, and the two of them have been travelling together ever since."

Schurk nodded his head in understanding, before he remembered the name, "_The _Aayla Secura."

Aayla seemed a little taken aback by his statement, "Yes."

"You're something of a celebrity my dear, stories of your heroism and bravery have reached the length and breadth of the galaxy."

"Thank you," she replied with a soft smile. "But some of what you heard might be a little exaggerated."

"Hmm," he hummed in reply, hand reaching up to massage his chin fur, "Perhaps, but on to more pressing issues. We apologise for taking you with us off-world, but the situation called for us to depart. What were you two doing on Esseles? It seems a bit close to the Core."

"We figured they wouldn't think to look for any Jedi in the Core Region," Aayla replied. "The plan was for us to take fake names and lay low until we were able to secure passage off-world, try and earn some credits and stay below the Empires radar."

The Yorkoran nodded his head in understanding, "Indeed, you have quite a bounty on your head my dear. The Empire has offered a hundred thousand credits for your head, dead or alive. The charges were polluting Felucia's water supply and killing nearly a Company of Clones."

"The charges are a load of bullshit," Naruto spoke up for the first time, receiving looks of surprise from everyone. "She did kill those Clones, but in self defence only and I helped her out. They tried to kill her first. As for the water supply it was a Sep leader who did that, she was trying to stop it."

"I expected as much," the Captain replied with a dry chuckle. "Who are you my boy? I am guessing you aren't a Jedi."

The blond shook his head, "I'm not a Jedi. I'm a Shinobi. There is a world of difference, think of the Mandalorians with Jedi like powers and there's your Shinobi."

"Hmm, force sensitive mercenaries." The Captain chuckled.

"Sort off," Dass was studying the blond as he spoke, frowning.

"Well, I apologise for dragging you both from whatever you were doing, I'm sure you were forced to leave a lot behind."

Naruto shook his head, "Nah, all we need is the clothes on our backs. We can always buy more another time."

He nodded his head, once again seemingly deep in thought before he spoke. "Well then I suppose I have a proposal for you both, positions on my crew. I'm looking for a couple of mechanics, maybe a co-pilot to help Crys."

"We couldn't place you all in any more danger than we already have," Aayla tried to say, but was cut off as the Captain chuckled.

"My dear, this ship blasted its way out of a New Plympto space port, destroying several Imperial fighter craft while doing so, we've also been harbouring a Separatist freedom fighter and a Jedi." He leaned forward with a toothy smile. "We're already waist deep in trouble with the Empire. Now what can you two bring to my crew?"

Aayla seemed caught in an internal struggle for a moment before sighing in defeat, "I can pilot most fighter and freighter craft, and I'm a bit of an accomplished mechanic. Naruto is still learning the basics of mechanics, but he has a good eye and is a natural born fighter. You'd feel safe having him watching your back."

"Hmm, indeed," Shurk hummed again, looking at both. They had a few additional beds, and it would be interesting to give the Empire a kick in the teeth. Everyone aboard had been wronged by the Republic and by extension the Empire, what was a few more fugitives? "You're both hired. I'm sure our resident mechanics could use the additional company down there, and another gunhand couldn't hurt."

"Will the crew be alright with us though?" Aayla asked.

"Most will welcome the company, and what you did for our friend Bomo has garnered quite a bit of respect, if begrudging from some. There shouldn't be much of a problem."

* * *

"I say it's a brilliant idea," Meekerdin-Maa stated resolutely, the small mouse like creature looking around the table at his fellow crewmembers. "Having a couple of Jedi, and this Shinobi, would be quite advantageous to us. You all know how useful they are in a fight."

Mezgraf let loose a small growl of acknowledgment, "I also concur with Meek, a couple of Jedi would be quite useful, Mistress Secura is a fine mechanic and pilot, and Uzumaki appears to be more than capable of handling his own in a fight."

"There is a problem in them being fugitives of the Empire," Sniffles muttered. "You know, we're already in enough trouble as it is, do we really need more?"

"We're all fugitives from the Empire my boy, they just have a bigger price on their heads," Schurk admonished lightly. "We could use a few additional hands to keep this old girl running, no offense to you, Janks or Meek but you need another set of hands down there."

"Yes, I agree," Meek nodded his little head up and down.

"Meek, we are all aware that you are a believer in the force, and you have a deep respect for the Jedi," Kor piped up. "But I also agree with letting them stay, I could use a few gunners to help defend this ship, and from what I hear Lady Secura is an accomplished fighter."

"But there is another thing, this Uzumaki character," Janks murmured. "You all obviously heard their conversation in the courtyard. How he was capable of reducing that villa to rubble."

They all nodded in agreement, a feeling of trepidation taking heart to each member of the _Uhumele _crew. That villa had the armaments and forces available to be a lightly defended fortress, for a seasoned Jedi Knight to state that a single person was more than capable of levelling it was testament to his abilities and skill.

"Now that I think about it I've never heard of a force-sensitive warrior clan known as Shinobi." Bomo frowned as he leaned back in his chair. He had put Resa to bed an hour ago, and was not afraid of her waking up. The poor thing was sleeping like a rock. "I've heard of many warrior peoples in my lifetime, but never of a people known as Shinobi."

"A new warrior clan, maybe," Kor himself frowned, as a Blood Carver he was taught about the great warrior peoples of the galaxy since he was old enough to walk. Blood Carvers were known as some of the finest warriors in the galaxy, a step below Jedi and Mandalorians, and he was certain he had never heard the term Shinobi ever mentioned.

"Intriguing indeed, wouldn't you all agree?" the Captain chuckled.

Crys had remained silent throughout the entire meeting, herself fighting an internal battle with her own emotions. The Captain noticed this. "You have been quiet through the whole meeting Crys, don't you have something to say?"

She sent a half hearted glare at the Yarkora, but relented. With a sigh she raised her head, meeting the gaze of her comrades and friends in the room. "You all know me. You know what I went through during the Clone Wars. My husband died defending us from the Droids of the Separatists, and my son was taken by the Jedi."

"We all know you Crys, and we understand the pain you have went through," Kor said, showing compassion which would make any stranger blink in confusion. It was rare for a Blood Carver to care about another sentient being. "Losing your home, your family, and your life is a true horror. One which many of us share, but you cannot blame every Jedi for what happened."

"I don't blame them," she replied defensively. "At the time I felt that the right thing to do was give him to the Jedi. He was on the first transport from that hell, and at the time I was happy with the thought that he would survive. I was ready to die with a smile."

"But you didn't die Crys," Bomo said sadly, this was news to him, but like the old warrior he was he took it all in stride.

"No, I didn't Bomo, though before I met all of you I wish I had," Crys said, showing her inner strength and tenacity which made her such an important member of this crew. "My son probably died in that massacre back on Coruscant, and even though I shouldn't I blame the Jedi as well as the Clones for his death. You can allow them onto this ship, and make them members of this crew, but they need to prove themselves too me before I can ever accept them. That's all I have to say on the matter."

It was better than he had hoped, Schurk-Heren realised. At least Crys was willing to give them a chance instead of throwing them out of the nearest airlock. "Let's have a show of hands shall we, all in favour of letting the Jedi and their Shinobi friend remain."

Everyone raised their hands, though some timidly. "Very well then, I will let them know that we have reached our decision."

* * *

Bomo led the two new arrivals into the last vacant cabin on the ship, and opening the door turned on the old lighting. Within was a simple bedroom, with two beds, one on either wall, cupboards at the bottom, a shared nightstand and a smaller room containing a sonic shower and sink. "Captain said this room is yours, it ain't much but you're welcome to it."

Aayla was the first in, taking note of the small room and smiling to the smaller Nosaurian, "it's perfect thank you."

Naruto had other ideas, "A bit cramped."

"Naruto," she admonished sharply.

"What, just saying."

Bomo laughed heartily, "I like this kid, not afraid to speak his mind. Captain told me to let you all know that we'll be docking in a smuggler stronghold in a few days, you can get what supplies and clothing you need there, and he'll be paying for it personally."

Aayla looked shocked, "No, I couldn't ask him to do that."

Bomo chuckled, "Don't worry; it'll be coming out of your cut the next time we make some money."

By now the blond had chosen his preferred bed, the one on the right, and fell onto it with a pleasant sigh. "I can't believe how tired I feel."

Giving him a bemused look Aayla sat on the bed to the left, moving up and down to check the springs of the mattress. The moment she lay back she felt a wave of tiredness hit her like a blaster bolt. "Guess it's been a long day huh?"

"You bet," Naruto replied, lying back, hands supporting his head as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Listen," Bomo said suddenly, gaining the attention of both of the rooms new occupants. "I know I've said this already but… thank you for saving my daughter, I will be in your debt for the rest of my life."

Naruto ginned from ear to ear, "Don't worry about it, we were happy to do it."

"No one should be allowed to get away with what that man was about to do, as a Jedi I could not turn a blind eye," Aayla added with a soft smile. "She's a beautiful little girl, Bomo."

He smiled sadly, "Yea, her mother's daughter that one. She really looks up to you both, her own two personal heroes'."

Naruto laughed, "Tell the squirt she's more than welcome to talk to us anytime, I kind of enjoyed her company."

"She'll be glad to hear that," Bomo replied before turning to leave. "Breakfast is at zero nine hundred. That big feline Mezgraf is a hell of a cook, though he hates to admit it."

"We'll be there," Naruto piped up as the door closed. He turned to Aayla and grinned. "It's amazing what life throws your way isn't it?"

Aayla smiled, but Naruto knew her for long enough to know that she was worried about something. "What's wrong? And don't ask me what, I can read you like an open book these days."

She gave him a look, before sighing in defeat. "It's Master Jennir."

"What about him," Naruto asked, recalling their little conversation with the older man. It was mostly small talk between Aayla and Dass, how they both survived their ordeals, if either had gained any contact with any surviving Jedi Knights and so on. But he had to admit the man seemed to have a cloud over his head.

"I can't say that I knew him very well," she began with a sigh. "Different generations, he was made a Knight when I was still a student, and during the war we were usually deployed in different theatres, but there was something that felt wrong about him, like he was carrying a weight on his shoulders."

"Could it be just him getting over the betrayal of his Troopers, like you?" Naruto asked, sitting up.

She shook her head, "No, it seemed fresher than that."

"Why don't you ask him?"

Aayla thought about it for a while, "Maybe I will."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Shorter than usual I know, but this was mainly an interlude chapter to fill in some plot before I got on with it. A lot of people have been wondering about how Aayla couldn't sense any Jedi, like Anakin or Luke would be able to in canon. Answer; while Aayla is a strong force user she is nowhere near the strength of the Chosen Ones of the Force, so sensing presences across vast distances would be beyond her. There will be Jedi survivors in this story, just not yet, so be patient.

_**Author's Note 3: **_Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter, there were some very informative points which I enjoyed reading and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We will be continuing on with the Dark Times storyline for a chapter or two, mainly because /SPOILER/I want Naruto to have a non-decisive meeting with Vader, looking forward to writing about that, lol/SPOILER/.


	8. The Package

_**Chapter 7**_

_**The Package**_

He awoke with a groan, turning over to smack the snooze button on his alarm clock before lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling of his little cell/bedroom. Naruto yawned as he got up, noticing his roommate had already risen, her bed made.

Two weeks he had been aboard this ship, two weeks he had been a member of its crew. He didn't regret meeting the people of the _Uhumele_, not by a long shot. They were all of several different races, all of different ages and followed different creeds, yet managed to work in complete harmony with one another. The only problem Naruto had was the fact that he had been wandering through the eternal void of space for too long.

Naruto was a man who took his physical and psychological health very seriously, back at home he would rise with the morning sun for a quick breakfast before moving on to train his mind and body. It was a regime which served him well in both his youth and adolescence. There was just one small problem with him continuing this training where he was, that problem seemed pretty simple, but too him it was unacceptable.

There was no bloody sun.

Being a man who rose with the sun that was a considerable problem and the absence of something which a month ago he had taken for granted was really doing a number on his biological clock. Now he had no idea when to get up or go to sleep, with the only real awakening coming from the watchman before him and being relieved by the watchman after him.

Naruto frowned as he got up and stumbled into the bathroom, performing his morning ritual of a five minute sonic shower, cleaning his teeth and rinsing his face before he got dressed and stumbled out of his shared room into the main living quarters of the _Uhumele_. He saw Bomo Greenbark and gave the Nosaurian a dismissal wave before stumbling to the kitchen counter, taking out cereal and Bantha milk, pouring them into a bowl and glass respectively before settling down to eat.

Bomo sat beside him, enjoying an evening meal of steak, fries and a glass of something alcoholic. "You really aren't very good with space travel are you?"

Naruto grunted in acknowledgement as he grabbed a spoon and dug it into his bowl of cereal, eating it like the machine he was slowly becoming. Aayla, Bomo and the Captain had laughed at his semi-death state and told him he would get over it, even Crys had taken a little mirth with his pain, but here he was three weeks later and he had still not gotten used to it.

He craved sunlight; he craved fresh air and the wind on his face, by the Sage he wanted to be in the middle of a heavy rain storm. He missed planetary atmosphere that bloody much. "So… who am I relieving?"

The Nosaurian smirked, "I'm wondering if you're fit to relieve anyone."

"Ha ha," Naruto muttered as he took another bite.

Bomo chuckled, "You're relieving Sniffles in engineering, and I'd be careful if I were you. The old man hasn't been in a good mood these last few days."

"I don't blame him," Naruto muttered as he took another bite. "When are we going to reach another planet?"

"Missing the dirt already huh?"

"Don't forget that this is my second time on a Starship, until then I had no idea of any of this," Naruto reminded as he took a gulp of his milk. "I mean I miss the sun's warmth, the wind on my face, fresh air and not this recycled stuff, I miss the rain and the smell of a salty sea."

"Wow," Bomo said in surprise. "Damn Naruto, that was almost poetic."

"Screw you,"

"Not on your life."

Bomo laughed heartily before noticing another figure enter the room, Sniffles looked exhausted, caked in dirt and grime as he absently waved at them before stumbling into his bed chambers and undoubtedly his shower cubicle. Both watched as he vanished before Naruto turned back to Bomo. "So who am I working with today?"

"Meek,"

"What else is new, he lives down there."

"And Knight Secura,"

"You don't have to call her Knight you know, I mean she already told you a dozen times just to call her Aayla," Naruto pointed out as he took another bite of his cereal, before choking on it and downing a few swigs of his milk.

"I know," Bomo replied with a scowl. "But it's not that easy, she was an enemy to me just a few months ago Naruto, and that doesn't just go away overnight."

"The Jedi were used as much as the Separatists were, and they paid a similar price," The blonde replied.

"I know," Greenbark replied as he took a swig of his drink. "We were both screwed over pretty bad, and I know I shouldn't be holding anything against her, but she was a Jedi of the Republic and I was a soldier of the Confederacy. Some things can't just be buried so easily. I know that if it wasn't for her I would have lost my daughter, but still."

"Bomo," Naruto sighed as he downed the last of his drink. "You have lost a great deal to this war, you're friends and you're entire family, excluding little Resa. I can understand why you feel the way you do… but."

He let the sentence hang in the air, waiting for his companion to initiate the next role, which he did, "But?"

"You are under the assumption that Jedi were these unfeeling warriors who lived in their ivory towers, when that couldn't be the farthest from the truth." Naruto put his glass down, looking over at the Nosaurian with aged eyes. "Jedi want the galaxy to think they are invulnerable, but at the end of the day they are sentient beings, like you or me. They never knew their parents, so instead they made attachments with their fellows, their masters and fellow students. They gathered a number of fellow Jedi around them, and because of their connection to the force when one of them dies all of them feel it."

Once again Naruto let his sentence hang in the air, and as he expected his companion took it. Bomo looked over at Naruto with slightly widened eyes, "You don't mean."

All Naruto did was nod, "They may act uncaring Bomo, but they do feel like you or me. When Order 66 was carried out Aayla felt the death of every person she considered a friend and loved one. It shattered her man. I'm not saying this because of some sense of pride; I'm just telling you what I saw. She broke down, and was unable to really speak for days. There were times at night where I could hear her crying. That was how bad it had been for her. Imagine seeing everyone you ever loved die in front of you, and you'll only know a small part of her pain."

The Nosaurian beside him was silent as Naruto took his last few bites of his cereal before rising to his feet with a sigh and making his way towards engineering. "I hear we got a buyer for that crate."

Bomo nodded, "Yea, some rich guy the Captain's done business with before, should be pretty straight forward."

Naruto nodded, he knew very little about their mystery cargo and that somewhat bothered him. It was called the Jebble Box, an ancient antique whose origin was a mystery. Carbon dating had placed the age of the box to roughly around three thousand years or more. Wars had been fought for possession of it, and its ownership was said to change hands hundreds of times over the centuries. No one knew what was within the crate, and this had sprouted much speculation.

Just getting the crate had been a bother, because it seemed the Empire had an interest in this artefact as well. They had stopped by Pizkoss, a small trading planet in the Core worlds to negotiate the deal, and were set upon by a unit of Troopers. Bomo, Meek and Janks had found themselves on the run, and in the confusion Janks was captured by the Imperials. Naruto wished he was there, being taught the internal workings of sublight engines by Aayla. It irked him that he hadn't been there to help.

"Ah, there you are Naruto." He looked around to see Schurk walking over to him with, nodding to Bomo. "I need you for a moment."

The blond shrugged as he turned around and strode back into the room, plopping himself down on the same stool he was on previous. "What do you need pops?"

Schurk-Heren raised a brow at this, "We will be setting down on Mimban later today to drop off our cargo. I would like you to accompany us."

* * *

Aayla stood at the precipice, for the last few weeks she had stayed aboard the _Uhumele _with Schurk-Heren and his crew, acting as a mechanic and co-pilot for the kindly Captain who had taken them in even though he knew what she was and the price on her head as an enemy of the Empire. It was a true band on misfits which made up the smuggler ship's crew.

She sensed that Schurk-Heren himself was a good man who strived to earn enough to feed himself and his crew. The _Uhumele _was his ship, and he had gathered his crew from victims of the Clone Wars including former slaves, abandoned warriors and civilians who had lost everything in that force awful conflict.

Ko Vakier, a Blood Carver and main weapons specialist of the _Uhumele_, trained in his people's warrior culture from a young age. He was the most experienced warrior on the original crew, skilled in almost every form of hand-to-hand and weapons fighting. He also had a good strategic mind, good enough that when the Captain was unsure of the situation he would ask for the Blood Carvers advice.

Mezgraf, she didn't know his last name, was a former slave who had freed himself and joined the crew of the _Uhumele_. He was very secretive about his past, and the slave tattoo on his right shoulder was always covered up. He was a good man, strong of heart and character and a loyal member of Schurk-Heren's crew.

Meekerdin-Maa, also known as Ratty, but Naruto and Aayla had just decided to call him Meek, was the head engineer of the ship and was responsible for keeping her running for quite some time. He was uncannily observant, a skill in every skilful engineer, and also extraordinarily sensitive to those around him. This made people think he was younger than he really was, something Naruto learned the hard way. He had an assistant called Janks, but he had been captured by the Imperial about a week ago and she hadn't really had the chance to get to know him.

Lynaliskar K'ra Snyffulnimatta, known as Sniffles to everyone else (A name that Crys had idly said which stuck ever since, despite his misgivings) was the ships navigator, and also a part time engineer who helped out Ratty and her on occasion. He was a refugee like Crys, and although a little squeamish was someone you could trust with things.

Crys Taanzer was the ships pilot and a widow who had lost both her husband and son during the Clone Wars. Her husband had died defending her against the Separatists, and her son was found to have the capability to become a Jedi and, with her consent was given priority passage off world. She was taken in by Schurk, like all the others, and taught how to pilot the ship. She was a woman hounded by her past, and the few times they had met her words had been respectful but strained. She held a grudge against the Republic, the Empire and the Jedi for losing her family.

Bomo Greenbark and Dass Jennir were newcomers, same as her and Naruto, a former Separatist freedom fighter and a Jedi General who had worked together after the announcement of Order 66. Bomo was a very down to earth individual, a man who Aayla considered honourable, respectful and determined to raise his young daughter as best he could. He had lost much in this war, his friends, family, wife and if she and Naruto hadn't intervened he would have lost his daughter too.

That left her fellow Jedi. She hadn't seen a lot of Dass Jennir. He had locked himself in his room since their first meeting and Aayla could feel that there was a monumental weight on his shoulders, one which worried him enough to ostracise himself from everyone else. She felt a need to talk to him, to help him, there were too few Jedi left, and they couldn't afford to ignore each other.

She took a deep breath and knocked on his door, there was a muffled affirmative to enter, and she did. His sleeping quarters was the same as hers and Naruto's, small with two beds and a small bathroom barely big enough for a sonic shower and sink. Dass lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, and once again she could feel his uncertainty and fear through the force.

"Knight Secura," he greeted evenly.

"Master Jennir," Aayla replied as she entered and sat on the opposite bed. She honestly didn't know the man very well, they had met during Temple debriefings a few times, but at most they simply greeted each other and moved onto their own circle of comrades. She could only remember meeting him a few times.

"What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to see if you were alright," she replied. "You've been holed up in this room since our arrival. The others are beginning to get worried."

"Is that so," he asked as he sat up and looked at her with green eyes. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Want to share?"

He smiled weakly, "I'm just at a loss on what we are supposed to do. You heard the reports right? How we're all these _evil_ traitors to the Empire, how we were all involved in some nefarious plot to take over the Republic; so many of us killed off because of the words of a single man."

Aayla nodded, "We have all lost people we cared about Dass, for a time I thought I was the last Jedi left alive."

"Same here," he replied. "But Aayla it's more than that. I feel myself slipping more and more from the Jedi way with every passing day. There are times when I feel nothing but anger for those who did this to us, and on Esseles that anger was too much to bear."

Aayla leaned forward, clasping her slender hands together. "What happened?"

"That merchant, when he gloated about how he killed and ate all those people, for no other reason than to prove he could… something in me snapped. I saw red, and I just drew my pistol and pulled the trigger, I killed an unarmed man." Dass fell back onto his bed, looking up at the ceiling. "And when Bomo demanded to know why I pulled the trigger when he should have I just spewed out that I would take the burden for him, to cover up my own moment of bloodlust."

Aayla was silent for a moment, blatantly aware that Dass had been keeping this bottled up since they left Esseles a few weeks ago. "I had a similar experience." He looked at her then, and she decided to continue. "When I was on Felucia, and Order 66 was given me and Naruto were forced to defend ourselves, we killed the ARC Troopers who fired upon us and decided to try and find the others. I found Knight Offee exactly where she would have been."

She looked up at him with a sad smile, "They killed her Dass, blew her up with artillery. I knew Barriss when she was still a Youngling. She came up to me and asked for my help in building her first training lightsabre, we were friends ever since, and those bastards killed her without a second thought. I almost went mad. I would have cut them down until they cut me down."

"What stopped you?"

"I had a friend who kept me from running to my death, and when I was shot he saved me and nursed me back to health. If he wasn't there I would have lost myself. You shouldn't keep these things bottled up Master, that's as much giving the dark side an advantage as doing the deed."

"I'm guessing your friend was this Naruto Uzumaki?"

She smiled, "Yes."

"Aayla, what do you know about this guy, really?" he asked suddenly. "I know that he isn't affiliated with the Separatists or the Empire, but have you ever wondered who he is and where he comes from?"

Aayla frowned, but found that he was right. She didn't know much about Naruto from what he told her, but from what she saw him do. Before she could reply the ships comlink buzzed and the Captains voice echoed through the air. _"Suit up everyone, we have arrived!"

* * *

_

Absently Naruto drew his blaster pistol, checking the weapons power cell as the rest of the crew prepared to disembark the ship. Schurk had asked for his help with this transaction, wanting to put what Aayla had said about him too the test. The power cell was full, and spinning the military grade pistol in his hand holstered it in a smooth motion.

He didn't like this.

The whole ordeal seemed to be a bit off to Naruto. A man who Schurk had done business with before had offered to buy their mysterious cargo for a good price. The meeting place, their buyers own personal fortress on Mimban, worried Naruto somewhat. If it was him he would have made the deal in a neutral location. Schurk understood his worries, and had already decided to secrete the box in the ice rings of the systems local gas giant to gauge his supposed client's geniality.

He was able to convince him to make a few changes to the original plans though. Jennir would remain on the ship while Schurk-Heren, Naruto, Mezgraf, Meek, Sniffles, Vakier, Greenbark and Aayla would head out to make the transaction, while the rest of the crew kept the ship warmed and ready, just in case they had to make an emergency take-off.

He was brought out of his reverie by Schurk's voice as he walked to the head of the procession. The crate was a perfect replica of the original box. "Alright, everybody ready?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives from the other five crewmembers before the Captain pulled the release latch, allowing the loading ramp of the freighter to lower to the concrete of their purchaser's villa. As Naruto disembarked, posture relaxing as the sun fell upon him. The blonde basked in the warmth as he took a few more steps from the _Uhumele_, allowing the rest of the crew and the mysterious cargo to go on.

"Hey Naruto," Aayla placed a hand on his shoulder, regaining his attention. He looked down at her, and she smiled. She was dressed in her usual attire, skin tight black leather pants and an armless shirt cut off midriff, showing her flat stomach, lightsabre strapped to a hidden compartment on her utility belt and a blaster pistol Mezgraf gave her holstered in plain view. "What's wrong?"

Naruto shook himself before grinning, "Just enjoying the sun on my face again."

Her smile grew softer, and with a last pat on the shoulder she moved on to rejoin the group. Naruto watched her go before shaking himself and moving to join her. The fortress was a large expanse, reminding him of an old castle with its high walls and watch towers. A single huge courtyard of dirt stood out in the middle, and it was here where the meeting place was too take place.

The _Uhumele _was parked behind them, and looking around the former Konoha Jōnin noticed that the vessel was parked in the middle of a worn landing pad, surrounded by the planet's jungle and marshland. Trails seemed to have been cut out for visitors to follow, but other than that the welcoming committee just wasn't there.

The Captain led the way, following the worn concrete path to their destination, all the while Naruto kept his eyes open, this place was perfect for ambushes. After five minutes of walking they came across their buyer's stronghold, and the blond idly wondered if every wealthy person in the galaxy lived in a fortress.

The fortress was held up on a large platform over the marsh, a courtyard leading to a bubble shaped structure, attached to a large slightly curved in fortress wall, for a moment he wondered if it was a fortress or a sports stadium. The pathway gave way to a railing-less bridge, vines and other fauna hanging onto the worn stone.

"This stinks," he heard Bomo say at last.

"It's a swamp," Meek piped up. "Decaying vegetation creates-"

Greenbark cut him off mildly, showing a little irritation. "No I mean this _**situation **_stinks. Heren, are you sure you can trust this Haka Hai guy?"

"No, I am not bomo," Schurk replied as they crossed the bridge and began walking to a set of worn stone steps, three figures waiting at the entrance to meet them. "But I know him of old, if that counts for anything. And he is the only buyer I could contact who agreed to the price who doesn't have Imperial connections. Let us hope for the best, and be ready for anything."

Naruto looked around as they entered the main courtyard of the plaza, noticing the wide open spaces with no real cover, and the several meter high walls curled around them. It was the perfect spot for a killing field, and he agreed with Bomo that this whole situation stunk.

The three figures became clear to him as she walked up the stairs, one was a human, another was a tall creature which reminded him of a lion with horns, a Gotal if he remembered Aayla's midnight lessons on the different Sentient races of the galaxy, and a creature he didn't recognise.

He had the stature of a human, but his face was weird with predatory eyes set in stalk like protrusions and a beak instead of a mouth. Gold rings and chains were pierced to blubbery cheeks. He wore a brown uniform with baggy trousers and a very expensive looking tunic, black utility belt around his waist with a blaster holstered.

The Gotal was taller, more muscular and much more imposing, wearing a dark purple shirt and trousers, black gloves, brown utility belt with holstered blaster and knee high black boots. The human beside him wore similar garb, and was armed with similar weapons. Mercenaries he guessed; hired guns.

The amphibious humanoid stepped forward, arms spread in greeting as the Captain went to meet him. "Schurk-Heren, you have prospered in the years since we last met!"

Heren responded with equal political tact, "Not as much as you, it would seem, Haka Hai, old friend. Nice place you have."

"It's built on a swamp," Bomo muttered.

The two sentient beings embraced, and whispered something which Naruto wouldn't have been able to hear had he not had the hearing of a fox.

"Shall we dispense with the pleasantries?"

"The sooner the better,"

The two sentient's parted ways, and Haka Hai clapped his three clawed hands together, two aliens appeared at the entrance, hoisting a large crate on their shoulders. "The payment you requested."

"You won't object if I wish to examine the contents?" Schurk asked idly as the crate was deposited before him. The two handlers scurrying back behind their boss.

Haka sighed a little too theatrically, "I expected that you would want to."

Aayla tugged on Naruto's sleeve, and he noticed her slowly reaching for her holstered blaster, "Get ready."

Naruto nodded, "He never intended to pay."

Kor ground his teeth as he slowly edged his blaster out of its holster, "Bomo was right, this does stink."

Men from several different races appeared along the ramparts of the courtyard, dozens of them armed to the teeth with blaster pistols, rifles, hold outs and even a few sported plasma rifles and rocket launchers. Naruto did a quick head count and surmised that they were surrounded and outnumbered by at least three to one. The enemy had superior firepower and high ground, while they were in the middle of a barren courtyard with next to no cover.

"Ah, I see, same old Haka," Schurk tried to remain calm as he spoke, and he did a fairly good job too. "It appears you have us at a disadvantage, if you would allow us to withdraw."

Their supposed buyer was walking back to his two lieutenants, voice full of confidence. "I'm afraid that doesn't really fit with my plans, _old friend_."

"This is great Heren," Bomo growled as he looked around frantically for cover. "I hope you pick your enemies better than your friends."

"Agreed," Naruto muttered as he began formulating backup plans. He had hoped to keep his true abilities secret from the crew, but it appeared the time for being subtle had passed. If he was to get them out of here alive then he'd need to really cut loss. In a way he supposed he would enjoy it. He hadn't unleashed any of his elemental Jutsu in so long.

Mezgraf and Vakier looked around with an eerie calmness one would expect from career soldiers. The towering feline was the first to speak, letting his Captain know the obvious. "It's three-to-one odds here Captain, but I'll follow your lead."

"Do you have your lightsabre?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes," she replied. "Though the only thing it would be good for at this range is blocking blaster bolts."

Before anyone could make a move a low hum filled the air, followed by a long shadow which stretched across most of the courtyard. Everyone looked up to see the huge metallic dorsal section of a Starship, slowly descending upon the tense standoff. For a moment Naruto thought it was the _Uhumele, _but quickly knew otherwise.

Schurk's voice could just be heard over the low hum, "Any ideas, Ko Vakier?"

"None that will help us, boss." The Blood Carver replied.

Suddenly the Gotal beside their supposed buyer drew his blaster pistol and levelled it at his 'employers' head. "A little change in plans _boss_, my boys and I are taking the crate."

There was shouting on the ramparts surrounding them as nearly a third of their ambushers turned on their fellows, pointing blasters and shouting for the others to drop theirs. Naruto immediately noticed a single difference between the two parties, the betraying group all wore the same rough design of uniform, light body armour of a dark purple. They looked more organised than the motley crew who were even now surrendering; seasoned mercenaries most likely.

Then it all went straight to hell, someone was fidgety enough to let off a single shot, followed by more as the two sides opened fire. Crimson and azure blaster bolts whipped and soared across the courtyard, mercs began to fall left and right, some part of their bodies steaming. He was vaguely aware of Bomo Greenbark yelling for them to run and in a flash Naruto drew his duel blaster pistols, along with everyone else and began running for cover, firing all the way.

They ran together towards a series of packed crates in the corner, jumping and winding around them before settling into defensive positions. But not all of them made it, Sniffles took a blaster bolt to the back, falling on his face and no longer moving. He was aware of Schurk swearing, followed by a roar of fury from Mezgraf.

The battle between the two mercenary sides seemed to be drawing to a close, with the Starship landing and the Gotals forces reforming into a very sloppy tactical retreat, two men pulling the decoy crate along with them. The courtyard was littered with the bodies of the dead and the dying, and the stench of burnt ozone filled the air.

"We need to get out of here before they remember we're here!" Aayla shouted over the sounds of war, firing a few rounds before ducking behind a crate.

"How, the exit is blocked!" Meek shouted back, covering behind the crate next to her.

Now or never, "Leave that to me… _Kagebunshin no Jutsu!"_

There was an explosion of white smoke which blinded the crew for a few short moments, and when it cleared most thought that they were seeing double, no triple, maybe quadruple. There wasn't a single Naruto anymore, there were at least twenty of him, crouching behind every crate and drawing duel blaster pistols from holsters, all sporting that same toothy grin, and when one spoke, all of them spoke.

"Alright, we're your cover so get up and run!"

The dozen mercenaries approaching their position never stood a chance as the platoons worth of blond clones rose and fired in perfect unison, four fell immediately and another two were hit as they retreated. When the coast was cleared they jumped and zigzagged around the crates running and firing as they made a dash for the bridge. The crew, at first completely shocked, were forced from it as the twenty replicas moved and took off with them, hiding themselves in the throng. Two stopped to pick up Sniffles prone body before taking off with them.

The real Naruto seemed to be ahead of them, and as they reached the threshold of the old crossing he looked back and raised his hand, showing four fingers followed by a wave towards a small section of crates. Four clones nodded and broke off from the main group, rushing towards the junction. The blaster fire had turned to them and Bomo was just able to make out three of the rear clones get hit by blaster rounds, only for their bodies to go up in explosions of smoke.

"Who the hell is this guy!" he yelled at Aayla as they continued to run.

The Twi'lek looked back at him, "He's a Shinobi!"

* * *

"_We're clear Captain," _Crys voice was like a breath of fresh air on the _Uhumele_, for immediately the rest of the crew breathed out a sigh of relief. It seemed that Haka and his small army of thugs were unable to give chase to the freighter, probably because of the civil war within his own ranks. That said the crew had quickly returned to the gas giant and regained possession of the Jebble Box before making the jump to hyperspace.

It was not all good news however; Sniffles had died on the way back to the ship. His body was in the vessels Medbay, draped over by a gray bedding sheet. Naruto and Aayla hadn't known the engineer for very long, but he seemed like a good guy, if a little jittery, and they were both saddened that he had died.

"Now then," Schurk began as he looked over at the duo with a tired smile. "There are some questions we would like you to answer for us, Naruto."

They were in the main room of the ship, Naruto sat on the worn main couch, looking over the entire crew since Crys had set the autopilot and strode in to join her comrades. Aayla was sitting beside him, and Jennir was leaning against a bulkhead at the far side of the ready room. Schurk and Ko were seated on the other worn couch, with the rest of the crew behind them.

"Ask away," Naruto replied, leaning forward and clasping his hands together.

"We know you're not a Jedi, but what are you?" Schurk asked a little bit of nervousness creeping into his usual crisp, accented voice.

"Like I explained I am a Shinobi," Naruto replied, clasped hands half covering his face as he spoke. "I'm not sure what planet I'm from, or where it is in the galaxy, but that's for another time. To answer your question a Shinobi is considered the main armed forces on our continent. We are men and women who have gained control of an inner network known as a chakra network, which through hand seals and extensive training gives us a vast array of abilities."

"Like when you made twenty perfect copies of yourself appear out of thin air," Mezgraf asked.

"The technique you say is called _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, _or Shadow Clone Technique. It is a highly advanced B-rank Ninjutsu which allows the user to create a perfect, solid copy of himself. The number which can be made varies from person to person. Some can only make a few, while others can make dozens or hundreds depending on their reserves." Naruto explained this calmly, eyes not leaving the Captain's features. "That is just the beginning of our abilities. Shinobi are masters of almost every form of combat except firearms. We can manipulate and wield the elements, create clones, caste illusions, martial arts, swordsmanship, summon, time distortion only to name a few."

"Sounds like you guys are some kind of super-freaks," Bomo muttered, only to get a chuckle from the blond Jōnin.

"That's actually a perfect analogy, we are an army of super-freaks," Naruto replied with a smile. "Though it depends on our chakra reserves and our ability to control it, only a select few are truly what you would call a Super-freak."

"So you guys are like Jedi," Crys asked with a frown, folding her bare arms under her chest.

"Yes and no," Naruto replied, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "Jedi use this weird all consuming thing called the force, Aayla showed me some of it. I'm not sure if we are force-sensitive, what we use is an inner resource of power and energy, something everyone has, though only a tenth of the population has the potential to wield it. Plus our ideologies are completely different. We aren't an order of warrior-monks, we were always just warriors."

"What do you mean?" Jennir spoke up with a thoughtful frown, eyes moving from Aayla to Naruto. The few times Naruto and him had met the man had been distant with him, like he wanted to know who he was but was unsure of how to ask.

"It's a long story, and a boring history lesson," Naruto smiled sheepishly.

Schurk leaned back, "We have time."

"Alright, I suppose to help you understand I should give you the basic history, not even Aayla knows this." Naruto replied, looking at his friend who in returned his glance with slightly widened chocolate orbs. "This is something I was going to tell you eventually Aayla, so join the class."

"Okay then, I guess this all started a few hundred years ago. I'm not sure when exactly because I slept through the first part of the lesson," he gained a few chuckles, relieving the tension somewhat. "There was a time when the continent I was from was in a state of continuous war, dozens of countries fighting against each other for the usual reasons, land, wealth, power, status, resources. This continued for hundreds of years, and as time went by certain clans began to emerge, men and women with unique abilities and powers. They became wandering mercenaries, selling themselves to the highest bidder to help fight their wars. In time they gained the name Shinobi, and were considered the best of the warrior classes."

"Out of these many clans two rose to true prominence, the Senju clan of the forest and the Uchiha clan. One had the ability to bend and control the elements to their will, the other possessed eyes capable of almost mythical power. It was inevitable that a rivalry would develop between the two. When one country hired the Senju, the opposing nation would hire the Uchiha and the two forces clashed on many battlefields over many wars. But one day the two clans met outside of the field of war, both tired of the never ending conflict they signed and forged an alliance, creating the first Ninja village, situated in the Land of Fire. This started a revolution, other clans joined their village and before long they became a superpower."

"Afraid of this new alliance other clans came together to form other villages, and the topography of the elemental nations was changed forever. Where once there were hundreds of small countries, now there were only a few dozen, with five in particular standing out. These were the lands of Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and Earth, who in turn had the five most powerful Ninja villages, known as Leaf, Sand, Mist, Cloud and Rock respectively. Other smaller villages sprouted up in the surrounding countries and the Era of the Ninja was born."

Naruto pointed to his headband, the symbol of the leaf displayed proudly, "I was a Shinobi from Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Out of the five main Villages we were the largest and the strongest, and I was one of their most powerful Shinobi, a fully qualified Jōnin, S-class, known across the land as the _Unpredictable._"

"So you are basically descended from mercenaries," Dass spoke up with a frown; "Fighting wars depending on who you worked for."

"You guys sound like force-sensitive Mandalorians," Bomo chuckled. "I like it."

"That was how we started, but when the villages were founded we only answered to one man, our Kage." Naruto replied.

"Kage?"

"Leaders of the five great villages, only the five villages had the right to name their leader a Kage. Kage were the strongest of their respective villages, Hokage for Konoha, Kazekage for Suna, Mizukage for Kiri, Raikage for Kumo and Tsuchikage for Iwa. The other village leaders were simply named Sato-Osa. Since the founding we only answered to our Kage, who in turn shared the same status as the Daimyo of the country we fought for. We left our mercenary roots and became the special forces of the country we defended. We fought and died in wars of defence and offense for the people and rulers of our country."

"So, if you guys hadn't invented space travel, how did you get here?"

"I was hunting a couple of missing Ninja. They were responsible for the annihilation of my village and the deaths of all I held dear. I vowed on the graves of my family and friends to hunt them down and make them pay." Naruto looked at Aayla to see her look back at him with a shocked expression, and he smiled softly. "I know it's against the Jedi, but remember we were not Jedi, and to a Shinobi like me who lost everything all that was left was to disappear or swear revenge."

He looked back at his congregation, all waiting patiently for him to continue. "I finally tracked them down and engaged them. But they had a trap waiting for me, a series of specialised seals meant to destroy everything around them. Last I remember seeing was a bright flash, then I was awakened on the jungle world of Felucia, looking up at Aayla."

"You suffered a great deal my boy," Schurk muttered after a few moments of silence.

Naruto smiled weakly. His smile was hollow and false, showing the people around him the tortured soul within for the first time. "I lost everything."

* * *

Crys Taanzer sat in the pilot's seat of the _Uhumele _bridge, looking over navigational charts and sensory information. Trying to ascertain where their Captain would take them next to sell off their cargo. It was the only thing she could do to take her mind off everything she had heard over the last few hours. After their little lesson on the Shinobi Naruto had excused himself, said he was tired, and disappeared into his sleeping quarters.

The Captain had broken up the group after that, telling them all to get back to their duties and to leave the blond alone for a while. The middle aged Schurk-Heren seemed to know something of what Naruto was going through, telling a story which clearly bothered him. Crys had made her way back to the safety of her domain, as the pilot of the Freighter, and there she had stayed for the last few hours, running diagnostics and going over star charts.

This whole dilemma seemed to be one big mess, and it had all started on New Plympto when they had taken in Bomo Greenbark and Dass Jennir, then spiralled out of control when they had run into Aayla and Naruto, with Bomo's little girl in hand. She sighed as she inputted the last piece of data and fell into her bucket seat. Naruto's story had been one of hardship and loss, and in a way she knew what he went through, and what he was still going through, wounds like what he expressed never really went away.

She heard the hydraulic doors behind her open and out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar tuft of long white hair. Dass Jennir walked over to the co-pilots seat and fell into it, hands already going over his personal access code for the console. "Captain says I'm to relieve you, Crys."

She nodded, but made no effort to move. Crys and Dass hadn't really talked since the incident on Esseles, when Bomo had let slip in anger that he was a Jedi. The Jedi Master became painfully aware that she was no fan of the Order, and had respectfully kept his distance. The blonde admitted she felt an attraction to him when he came aboard, but any hope of that was gone.

"Bomo told me what happened to you," he said, catching her by surprise.

She scowled lightly, "That Nosaurian doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

There was a moment of silence before the man beside her turned around, his green eyes seemingly piercing her soul. "I'm sorry about your son, Crys."

She lowered her head, but nodded. Crys had no idea of what she thought of him at present, a Jedi or the man she had gotten to know over the last few months. Despite how the majority of the crew felt about the Jedi she just couldn't, not after thinking how her son had died during their revolt. So instead of speaking to him she stood up and began walking towards the main doorway, but as they opened she was stopped by his gruff voice.

"About a year ago Master Yoda initiated a backup protocol, we had thought it up when the Clone Wars started but didn't implement it until the Separatists got too close to the Core Worlds for comfort." She wished she could have just walked out the door, but she stayed, listening to him, her mind swirling with how she felt for the Jedi and how she felt for him. "The protocol was for the younglings to be scattered to different enclaves across the galaxy. With the near end of the war many were recalled before the massacre, but a few were ordered to remain where they were after the Separatists attacked Coruscant."

She gripped the door frame hard, and looked back at him. Was he trying to give her a piece of hope, hope that her son was still alive out there? Her question was answered when he looked back at her and flashed a sad smile. "Don't give up hope yet Crys, there is a chance that your son is on one of those scattered enclaves, after the Captain gets rid of this crate I'll input the codes for some of the larger ones into the terminal and we'll start looking for them."

Crys turned her head ever so slightly, looking at him for a brief moment before walking out the door. She managed three steps before leaning against the bulkhead, placing a hand to her heart. She knew the chances of her son being alive were a long shot, one in a hundred, maybe even one in a thousand, but Dass' words gave her hope, no matter how she told herself differently.

She took a few moments to get herself under control, before strolling into the main living chamber of the _Uhumele, _to be faced by something she wished she didn't have to face just yet.

Another Jedi;

* * *

Aayla sat on the worn sofa, absently watching the steam rise from her cup of Caf. Her mind was moving a mile a minute, taking in where she was and everything that happened until that point. Naruto was chief among her thoughts, that blond haired human who had crashed into her life two months ago.

She was no fool, and she didn't like to be coddled. She knew for a fact that since the initiation of Order 66 she had been a mess, probably would have died in that hellish jingle world, and even if she had survived she would have been a shell of her former self. Feeling those you considered friends and family die could do that to a person.

She had almost gone mad, fallen back on her most basic instincts. In her weakened mental state she had allowed her most basic instincts to take over, and had killed many Clones in her anger. She had felt betrayed, alone, and utterly defenceless against the darkest of her emotions. She had struck out with her darkest thoughts when she had seen her friend's burn and die. She was under no illusions that the darkness would have taken her then.

Yet.

Who had kept her from falling into that state?

Who had been there for her when she needed the company the most?

Naruto.

He had been there for her when she needed it. He had snapped her out of her rage, dragged her from a battle where she would have undoubtedly fought and died in, when she had been shot and lay there dying he was there to save her and drag her too safety, and in the aftermath when she was in the deepest depths of her despair he forced her out of it by becoming her temporary teacher, and through it all she had made an incredible, once in a lifetime friend who had loyally stood beside her and protected her when she most needed it.

She was under no delusions that she owed her life to him, nearly a half dozen times over by now.

Yet what he had shared with the crew of the _Uhumele _today, his explanation of his people and their ideals was so different from the Jedi way that she was now at a total loss at what she should do. His people, the Shinobi, had no real safeguards against negative emotions. He had even told them that before he had met her he had been on a quest of death and revenge against those who murdered his family and loved ones. It was so against the Jedi way that to her, who had been taught the codes and laws of the Jedi since birth, it had been nearly terrifying.

A Jedi must feel no emotion, no love, no attachment, for those very emotions brought upon the darkest of desires and thoughts. The old mandate of the Jedi Order was to serve and protect the galactic body which was the Galactic Republic, to be the guardians and defenders of peace and justice. That was what she had been taught since she was a child, saved from slavery and amalgamated into the Jedi Temple.

Shinobi didn't seem to have any such safeguards, not if what he had told them was to be believed. From what he had told them the Shinobi were not as simple as the Jedi or the Sith, there was no one unifying force directing them to the darkness or the light, the Shinobi were too divided for that to happen. They just gave their allegiance to a Village, and fought for them until either they were too old or until their dying breath.

It was so against the Jedi way, yet now that she looked back she supposed that the Jedi couldn't really preach to them about the wrongs of their actions. They had been called upon to fight as officers for the Galactic Republics Grand Army in a war she was beginning to think was just one big trap for her Order. Weaken both their numbers and their influence, then force them to make a move, and when enough evidence was gathered herald them as traitors and Separatists to the Republic.

The Jedi had given up so many of their ideals and beliefs in this war. She remembered Master Yoda telling her when she was a youngling that _once a Jedi had drawn their lightsabre they had failed in their purpose_. A Jedi's strength is through the force, through negotiation and understanding, not through war and death. If that was true then they had lost their way the moment they had agreed to fight this war.

Aayla leaned forward and put her head into her hands, the same question repeating itself over and over in her mind.

What was she supposed to do?

A shadow was caste over her, and suddenly remembering where she was Aayla looked up to see the other grown female of her group. Crys Taanzer was beautiful in her opinion, a human woman in her prime with unblemished skin, long blonde hair, piercing green eyes and a physically fit figure. The woman's features were between curious and agitated.

Finally she sighed and walked over to the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of Caf from the still steaming jug. "What's wrong with you?"

Aayla herself leaned forward and picked up her own cup of Caf with both hands, blowing on the steam as Crys took a seat on the couch opposite her. "Just thinking is all."

Crys seemed to lounge on the sofa, "About what he said right?"

She looked up at her for a moment, before sighing and nodding her head. "Yes."

"Care to let me in on it?" Aayla was completely silent for a few moments, trying to get her thoughts in order if she decided to say yes. Taanzer spoke up before she could reply. "Are you going to kill him?"

She looked up at the ships pilot, eyes wide in horrified disbelief, "No."

"That's what you Jedi do isn't it? When faced with an order that uses these _gifts_ for nefarious means you eliminate them? That's what most religious orders do when they see something different from what they do."

Aayla shook her head, tails swirling, showing the depths of her opinion, "No, no I was never going to hurt him, not after everything he's done for me!"

"Then why are you in here sulking?" she asked with a bit more bite than she intended.

Aayla looked up at her with the desperate eyes of someone who didn't know what they were supposed to do. Then she lowered her head and took a sip of her cup, completely defeated. This surprised Crys a great deal, she was expecting a great argument to take place about the pros and cons of the Jedi Order, she had almost begged this Knight to start one so she could let off all of the anger she had for the Republic, the Empire and the Jedi as a whole. But seeing this young Knight, maybe five years younger than her looking so lost and defeated, it just took all of her biting words and hateful thoughts away.

Finally the young Twi'lek before her spoke with soft words. "I was always taught about how to be a Jedi and how to use the force. I was an orphan, condemned to become a slave until my Master came and saved me from it. He took me with him, enrolled me in the Jedi academy and when I was old enough he took me on as his apprentice. He taught me so much, but he and his Master before him were considered something of rogues, because they all considered each other family when the Jedi Order preached against such attachments. Though I tried to be the perfect Knight of the Jedi I was not beyond feeling as such, and for so long I tried to tell myself that if I became a good Jedi then that was all I needed to be."

"Then Order 66 happened, I felt the deaths of all around me and it crushed me. I realised that no matter how much I try to hide it I did have people who were important to me, whom I considered friends and family, and whom I would have defended with my life." She looked at the cup for a moment. "That day took it all away, I felt everyone I loved die within a few minutes. It almost drove me insane, and I would have gone mad if _he _wasn't there."

She looked up at Crys with a smile, "Naruto saved my life, and when I felt like I was about to fall into the depths of despair he was there to pick me back up and force me onward. If he wasn't there then I would have died on Felucia, like all the others. But now that I know the origins of the Shinobi, how they fought and waged war against each other, how their teachings were so different from what I was raised on, I… I just-"

All of Crys' biting words were gone, all of her hatred at the Jedi, Sith, Republic, Empire, the entire universe for losing her son was temporarily forgotten. In that moment she didn't see a Jedi, she saw a broken young woman who had lost everything and was being kept up by a certain blond haired young man. She sighed and leaned back. "He has been there for you right? Then be there for him, from what we heard he had lost everything before he ran into you. You say he has kept you up, well I think you've been keeping each other up. For now forget about your blasted Jedi ideals and just be there, help each other, I mean does he feel evil to you!"

Aayla looked up at her in surprise for a moment, before a soft smile spread across her cerulean features. She got up, Caf forgotten, and walked over to their shared room. "Thank you, Crys."

Crys took a sip of her Caf and lightly scoffed, "For what, stupid Jedi."

As Aayla disappeared into the room she shared with their resident Shinobi, Crys became aware of a few figures looking over at her with a chagrined expression. Bomo Greenbark with little Resa gripping onto his trouser leg (she still hadn't warmed up to everyone yet), was grinning openly at her. "Looks like you've warmed up to a Jedi Crys."

Crys took a mouthful of Caf before muttering a few choice words to her fellow crewmate, "Who asked you?"

* * *

"-About fourteen hundred standard years ago ice miners on a planet called Jebble found it under a kilometre of ice. They couldn't find a way to open it, and scanners couldn't penetrate its skin. But they decided that it must contain something valuable, otherwise why try to hide it so well?" Schurk-Heren said as the crew peers into the huge crate which had given them so much grief. Within was an object roughly the same size as a coffin, seemingly made of a shining black substance which reminded him of marble. "One of the miners took the object for himself. As you know it will not be the last time blood was spilled for its possession."

"The story grew. First, that the object could only be opened by a force user… then that it contained an ancient treasure of the Jedi. Many feared that if the Jedi learned of its existence they would claim it for their own."

The crew looked over at Dass and Aayla when the Captain said this, and both frowned as they walked forward to examine it. The others all took a step back, including Naruto, watching as the two force users looked it over. Finally it was the elder Jedi who spoke. "While I am not well versed in our libraries I'm pretty sure I never heard of this device, what about you Aayla?"

The younger Knight frowned as she looked it over, and finally shook her head. "I've never heard of anything similar to its description, and like the Captain said the majority of information on this thing is based on rumour."

"So you're not going to claim ownership of this thing?" Crys asked with a frown.

Both looked too each other for a moment before Jennir answered, "Our order is endangered of becoming extinct. I honestly don't think any of us will care about this thing."

Heren cleared his throat, "Yes, well, as I was saying… over the centuries the _Jebble Box_, as it has become known changed hands many times, the very rumour of its contents driving its price ever higher. Collectors across the galaxy have spent their fortunes to acquire it and several years ago a war was even fought for it, which is how it came into our possession."

"So what do you think it is?" Bomo asked as the Captain resealed the infamous Jebble Box.

"Frankly I don't know, nor do I care at this point. I only wish to sell it and be rid of it, unless our two Jedi friends object?"

"We don't Schurk," Aayla spoke up.

"Well I hope this deal goes better than the last one," Bomo frowned, turning his eyes to the Captain as he spoke, something Heren noticed.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Bomo Greenbark?" he asked scathingly. "Do you think I don't feel the loss of Lynaliskar K'ra Synffulnimatta or even Janks!"

"We didn't _lose _Sniffles, Heren," Crys growled as she turned and walked to the exit. "He was killed by one of your _friends_."

Before the situation could get any more volatile the ships com snapped to life and the growling voice of Mezgraf could be heard from the bridge. _"Crys, I need you up here. We're approaching our destination."_

Crys just quickened her pace as she walked out the door, and for a moment after her departure the cargo bay of the _Uhumele _was silent, save for the hum of the ships engines. Finally Schurk broke the silence with a croaking voice, waving to their cursed cargo. "I assure you all, I have taken every precaution in setting up this sale."

"Yeah," Bomo replied, obviously not convinced. "That's what you said last time."

"Yes for which I have already expressed my regrets," Schurk replied with a frown. "This buyer is known to me personally-"

"Again," the Nosaurian interrupted. "What you said last time."

Naruto was aware of Aayla and Dass making for the exit as Bomo and Schurk-Heren continued their little conversation, he too began to edge towards the main room. "But this gentleman, Fane Peturri, has no ties with any criminal organisation. He is a scholar… a historian with a legitimate interest of antiquity. I've dealt with him before, but I never imagined he had the resources to afford what we're selling."

Naruto stopped midstep, spun around and walked until he was right in the Captains face. "Wait, hold the phone. Did you say you didn't think he had the resources for this buy?"

Schurk seemed surprised, "Yes my boy, why do you ask."

Naruto stood there with a deadpanned expression, before spinning around again and making his way towards the main room, shouting. "Aayla, Dass, get blasters and lightsabres ready, spread the word for the rest of them to do the same!"

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Bomo asked.

"Old Shinobi training, something Schurk said is causing alarm bells to ring in my head!"

"Where are you going!"

"To my room to get my weapons, kunai, shuriken, paper bombs, smoke bombs, flash bombs, katana, blasters and a lot of things which go boom!" Naruto was out the door by the time he finished his explanation.

"What was that about?" Heren muttered.

"I don't know," Bomo replied before walking in the same direction. "But I'm going to put Resa in the hidden compartments and get my blaster, after last time I'm willing to go on a little faith."

* * *

The surface of the moon was what one might think off as a graveyard, alien plant life could be seen here and there, and the ruined superstructure of several storey high city towers could be seen about a half kilometre away, but other than that the area seemed devoid of any life, and with it being nightfall the already stressed members of the _Uhumele _crew were now jumping at shadows, a lot of shadows.

"Where do you think this Peturri got the resources to make the buy?" Bomo asked as he walked a little ahead of the crate, a blaster carbine in hand and another latched to his back.

"From an inheritance, from a wealthy patron, does it matter?" Schurk replied in a growl, seemingly more relieved to be getting rid of this artefact than going over the small details.

"It might," Ko Vakier piped in from the left of the crate. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

Everyone was armed, Schurk had a blaster rifle slung to his back, Ko was holding a nasty looking repeater, even Crys was wielding a big blaster. Aayla and Dass flanked Mezgraf as he hauled the huge crate along, blaster pistols in hand and lightsabres carefully hidden. Naruto flanked the Captain, blaster pistols drawn and held casually at his sides. There would be no repeat of last time, not with two Jedi, a former Separatist freedom fighter, a Blood Carver and a Jōnin level Shinobi in the group.

That's what he hoped anyway.

"Ko Vakier is right. Stay on your guard." Crys said as she checked the magazine of her old rifle. Naruto doubted she was an expert marksman, but another gun hand couldn't hurt.

A building stood out, no doubt the base camp of this historian fellow, Fane Peturri. It was a ruined building, exterior only marginally better kept than the rest of the ruined cityscape. A wide staircase of rock, cracked and covered in a few vines led up to the arched opening, and standing at the top of the stone steps was a single figure, their buyer if Naruto wasn't mistaken.

"There's Peturri," Schurk spoke up as the group approached. "He came alone… as he promised."

Fane Peturri was a small man, his featurs wrinkled with old age, and an eye-piece over his right eye. His grey hair was swept back, and his equally grey moustache was well kept. He wore a simple refined longcoat of dark purple, with slightly lighter toned pants and shirt with black leather ankle boots. He stood with the refinery of an aristocrat, hands clasped behind his back as he watched them approach.

Something wasn't right.

"Fane Peturri," the Captain greeted.

"Schurk-Heren," Peturri replied evenly.

"You brought the agreed upon payment?"

The old man's face was the same stoic façade as he answered with a resounding, "No."

Naruto drew his pistol with lightning quickness and levelled it at the old researcher's head, his movements surprising the old man. "What do you mean _no_?"

A crimson blaster bolt flew from the shadows of the laboratory, slamming into Naruto's chest and sending him to the ground, losing grip on his twin blasters as he fell. The world seemed to slow down around him. He was vaguely aware of Aayla crying out his name before darkness overtook his vision.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Sorry for the next chapter coming a week later than normal, I had a lot of stuff going on with Uni and all, and because of that this story and all others will be put on hold for the next fortnight. Coursework is coming in thick and heavy, and I won't have the time to write anything until the semester ends in mid-November. Once it's all finished I'll give you guys a Chapter and for those of you who don't know Dark Times you will see what's in the mysterious Jebble Box.


	9. The Devil's Lair

_**Chapter 8**_

_**An Ancient Evil**_

_**Part I**_

Nauto's body had barely hit the ground before lines of Clone Troopers rushed from the darkened depths of the arches, almost a full platoon of twenty men armed with DC-15S blaster carbines. They moved with perfect tactical precision, surrounding the surprised crew and levelling their weapons, ready to fire.

Outnumbered, surrounded and outgunned the surviving crew dropped their blasters one by one, and raised their hands in surrender. All except for Aayla, whose eyes refused to leave the fallen body of her friend. Naruto lay on his side, facing away from them, hands unconsciously raised to his stomach and legs slightly curling in.

She was completely unaware of Dass silently urging her to raise her hands, unaware that the three nearest Clones had levelled their weapons at her. Then she heard it, the echoing inhaling and exhaling of a mechanical breather, and the thuds of boots hitting the broken concrete. The young woman forced her eyes to rise from her friend's body to the creature approaching her.

He was tall, dressed from head to toe in nightmarish black armour which seemed to gleam in the low light, a long black cape was draped over his shoulders and the circuit board displayed prominently on his chest made her aware that the armour was more for life support than protection. A dull silver lightsaber hilt was attached to a black utility belt at his waist.

She sensed nothing but emptiness and anger from him, not aimed at her but seemingly at the whole galaxy. He was a cesspool of hatred and anger in the force, so much so that she felt queasy from the near proximity. This was him, one of the Sith lords whose actions culminated in the war that claimed so many of her brothers and sisters, her friends and family. This was one of the people who ripped her world asunder, and the leader of the Platoon who had shot her friend.

She was barely aware that she was moving until she was upon him, lightsaber gripped hard in her hand. She activated the azure blade and brought it down in a diagonal slash, barely aware of her scream of anger and sorrow. There was a crimson flash and a red blade intercepted her azure, crackles of electricity assaulted her ears.

She put all of her weight behind her blade, but her opponent was heavier and stronger and she was forced back when he lashed out, using the momentum to perform a backward somersault and land in a crouch, free hand pressing against the broken concrete to keep herself upright. Two Clones opened fire at her with their carbines, but the beams were quickly intercepted.

"No," the Sith spoke in a voice amplified by his mask, so mechanical that it didn't sound human. "This one is mine."

He was upon her in an instant. Aayla blocked another slash, but was forced back a few footsteps as her enemy put his weight into the strike. She ducked a follow up swipe and backpedalled, azure blade moving deftly in her hands as she blocked and intercepted strike after strike.

She was against a pillar now, back pressed against the cracked and worn marble, barely able to keep her enemy's blade in a deadlock with her own. Slowly she was being overwhelmed, locked lightsabers so close she could feel the searing heat on her skin. He leaned in close; masked face just a few inches from her own.

"I know your face," he said, mechanical voice dousing out the continuous hisses of his breather. "Aayla Secura, it has been a long time."

Aayla grit her teeth as she put all of her weight into her blade, and was barely able to keep the crimson and azure blades from burning her skin. "Who are you!"

"Hmm," the giant hummed. "I suppose you wouldn't recognise me, not with this armour on. I thought you were strong enough in the force to sense the presence of someone you're familiar with."

Aayla blinked before submerging herself in the force, timidly reaching out with her sixth sense to identify this mysterious Sith Lord. He felt so familiar, like they were friends once, a long time ago. She frowned, before remembering when she first felt this presence, on the cloner's world, just before the First Battle of Kamino.

"_Something wrong, Padawan?"_

_He looked up from his place, on his knees beside a table. There were tools and pieces of machinery scattered across the floor of his room, and in his hands was a small utility droid, a scarab shaped construct designed mainly for cleaning duties. He had been tinkering at the thing for quite a while she realised, perhaps a way to forget about his argument with his master._

_Anakin Skywalker wasn't that much younger than her, maybe four years. His hair was a dirty blonde, cut short with a Padawan's braid dangling from his right ear. His blue eyes, so full of emotion, were stormy and frustrated, both at the droid he was trying to fix and at his master for not trusting him to watch his back when the Separatists finally arrived._

"_Master Secura," he greeted with a little surprise, before glancing down at the small utility droid, set it down on the table and rose to meet her, preparing to bow if she hadn't raised a hand to stop him._

"_Having trouble," she asked with a smile. Aayla could have felt this young man's emotions from across the floating city. So frustrated and hurt he felt._

"_No, well yes," Anakin sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "I was just trying to calm myself, so I decided to repair this droid."_

_She smiled as she knelt down beside him, studying him while he continued to fuss over this small machine, who refused to work no matter what the young Padawan did. "Ah, a type of physical meditation, I do that sometimes as well."_

_He frowned, "I can't understand why it doesn't work, and I've checked everything."_

_She offered him her outstretched right hand, and hesitantly he handed her the utility droid. "Let me try."_

_She set the small machine down and studied it for a moment, noticing how well the young man had repaired it. There was no discernable reason why it shouldn't work. With a smile she probed its metal skin with her fingers, found the spot she was looking for and gave it a light smack. The droid buzzed to life in her hands, lights flickering on and little legs spindling._

_Anakin stared wide eyed at the small machine, dumbfounded, before a grin spread across his youthful features. "What – How did you do that?"_

_She herself grinned at his curiosity and amazement. "Old mechanics trick, sometimes it's best to leave a machine alone than to tinker with it."_

"Anakin," she asked, half in hope and half in fear. "Is that really you?"

"It is," was his simple reply, putting more weight on his lightsaber.

She remembered the vision she received on Felucia, of the massacre in the Jedi Temple and the Younglings who were mercilessly cut down by this man's blade, this man, who liked to build and tinker with droids in his spare time, who during the Clone Wars was one of the bravest and most daring people in the galaxy, who saved her life on many occasions, and whom she had once been proud to call friend.

This man who cut down an entire clan of Jedi younglings in the Jedi High Council chambers, over a dozen children who were barely a decade old, and he killed them. Aayla lashed out with her right foot, impacting against Anakin's side. It didn't do much, just made him back up a step, but it was enough for her to roll out of his path. She was on her feet and upon him in a heartbeat, eyes ablaze with fury and when she screamed at him the voice didn't seem to belong to her.

"No," she shouted as she lashed out again and again, frustration growing as he keenly intercepted every slash and strike. "You can't be him. The Anakin Skywalker I knew was kind, smart and brave, willing to put his life on the line for a friend in need. You aren't him!"

"And how do you know him, the real him?" the monster in front of her asked.

"I fought beside him, when you fight beside a person you get to know him very well," she replied bitingly as she continued her relentless assault. "The Anakin Skywalker I remember wasn't a coward who went to a madman for power, he wasn't a man who stabbed friends in the back and he wasn't a murderer of children incapable of defending themselves!"

He ducked a slash and sent her flying across the courtyard with a powerful force push. Aayla flew through the air, spinning before hitting the ground hard. She slammed into the concrete with bone jarring force and skidded to a halt. Aayla coughed up a gob of blood, reaching up to wipe away the crimson dribbling from the corner of her mouth before flipping to her feet and reactivating her lightsaber.

He was walking towards her like a shadow out of a nightmare, lightsaber in hand, gleaming blood red in the low light.

"Why did you do it, Anakin?" she asked in a suddenly small voice.

"To save that which I loved the most," he replied as he continued his approach.

"To save which you loved most," she repeated angrily. "Tell me, did you save that which you loved most? Was it worth it?"

He was within arm's reach now, lightsaber held over his head for a downward stroke. "No."

The crew of the _Uhumele _could only watch on, helpless as the Sith lord continued his relentless assault, attacking her with powerful blows which sent her continuously stumbling and backpedalling backwards. Bomo looked from the duel to Naruto's body, and then to their second Jedi. Dass was standing beside him; fists clenched so tight the skin turned white.

"Aren't you going to help her," Crys whispered sharply.

"She needs help," Ko growled before leaning close enough to the Captain to whisper. "Just give the word sir, and we'll fight."

Dass was moving before the towering feline could finish. Lightsaber in hand and igniting as he jumped with a force propelled leap, deflecting several bolts from blaster fire before he brought his weapon down. Anakin saw it coming and sending Aayla flying with another well timed force push brought his lightsaber up to block.

"So, there are two of you?"

Jennir used the momentum to perform a somersault over his opponent, using the force as his feet made contact with the ground to propel himself back to where Aayla was groggily getting to her feet, hand reaching down to help her up. Anakin advanced a few steps, a half dozen Clone Troopers flanked him, carbines levelled and ready.

"Anakin Skywalker is dead Aayla," the neophyte Sith said as he advanced at a steady pace. "He died the moment he lost that which mattered most, all that is left is me."

"And who are you?" she growled, hand reaching out, lightsaber flying towards her with a telekinetic grip.

He reached out with his free hand, "You may call me - Darth Vader."

The lightsabers of both Jedi flew from their grasp with impossible force, landing with subtle grace in his outstretched hand. With almost perfect precision ten Clone Troopers rushed forward, surrounding the two Jedi and levelling their long barrelled blaster rifles right at them. Aayla and Dass were back to back, determined looks on their faces.

"Surrender," Vader spoke from behind his column of Troops. "Surrender now and I will spare both your lives and those of your compatriots."

Aayla turned her dark eyes to caste a glare at the Dark Lord, "We'll surrender on one condition."

Vader was silent for a moment, "You are in no condition to be bargaining."

"Hear me out," Aayla asked. "If you were ever Anakin Skywalker, my friend, then you will hear me out."

Vader was silent again, his hoarse breathing the only sound, "Very well."

"You take us," Aayla replied, casting a glance at the wide eyes of the _Uhumele _crew. "And let them go. They have nothing to do with this."

Vader looked right at her, and Aayla shivered. It was like glancing into the eternal blackness of the void. "Why should I do that?"

"Because if you ever were Anakin Skywalker you would never have put the lives of innocent people at risk," Aayla looked him straight through the visor, like her dark eyes were looking straight through to the charred flesh underneath. "And it's not them you want is it? You want what's in that coffin, and you want us."

"The Anakin Skywalker you knew is dead, Aayla," Vader said as he turned around, walking back to the arch. "However I commend you on your selflessness, something I've always respected about you. Release them but they leave their weapons here, and I want a squadron of fighters to escort them out of the system."

Aayla managed a sad smile before looking at the crew, matching gazes with each one of them, hoping that each one would see the pleading in her eyes. She saw each and every member of the crew looked ready to jump to her defence, and be mowed down as a result. She would not allow that. "Go; get on the ship and go!"

"Aayla," Schurk whispered, the old smuggler Captain looking more torn than any others, losing three members of his crew in barely a week would do that to a sentient being.

Her eyes met Bomo and she smiled softly, "You went through so much for what you've been able to save. Don't throw it away for my sake."

It was sceptical enough, but the Nosaurian understood the meaning behind her message. If he tried to save her and Dass here then he and the rest of the crew would die, and who would be left to guard Resa? Several Troopers backed away from the stricken crew, giving them a clear route to their ship.

"Take Naruto with you," she said to them as she looked at his body. "I don't want him left out here."

Ten Troopers surrounded the crew, and it became blindingly obvious that if they didn't retreat they would all die. The crew began to walk, their escort shoving any who were going too slowly for their tastes with their blaster rifles.

Vader didn't pay any further attention to the crew, looking at the two Jedi unflinchingly, "Stun them."

Two azure blaster bolts were fired by the nearest two Troopers, each one slamming into their chests. Aayla was sent falling backwards from the recoil, landing boneless on the hard rocky ground, consciousness lost in an instant.

* * *

"We can't just leave them like that," Bomo growled as he watched both Schurk and Crys sitting in the pilots and co-pilots chairs, flicking on switches to activate the _Uhumele's _atmospheric thrusters. "You know exactly what they'll do to them once they're no longer useful."

The crew knew this all too well. As far as they knew Order 66 was still in effect, meaning that once the black armoured creature was finished with them they'd become another two casualties on an already long list. Naruto had been left in the Medbay, blanket covering his form, another death to the crew, and another two captured by the Imperials.

"I understand how you feel my boy," Schurk replied with an irritated growl. "But we are in no condition to help them, not until we completely understand the situation. Crys, are the scanners online?"

"They are," she replied. "A squadron of fighters have been launched from the Imperial Cruiser, looks like our escort, and the Cruiser has a few of her Turbolasers trained on us."

"Meaning that if we try anything funny we'll be nothing more than a crater in the ground," Schurk finished. "We're not in a very helpful situation."

Bomo snarled before spinning around and stomping down the corridor towards the main ready room of the small freighter. The mood within the ship was sombre and defeatist, so palpable that it could be cut with a knife. He spotted the two other warriors of the crew, Ko and Mergraf sitting next to a table, defeated in every sense of the word.

The Nosaurian didn't know where he was going until he stood at the door to the Medbay, taking a look through the windows of the automated doors into the room proper. The ships Medical bay was a small room of clandestine white walls which constantly smelled of disinfectant. It's furniture and equipment were standard, with a stainless steel table at its centre, life support machines and cabinets full of supplies and medicines dominated the walls, there was even an empty Bacta tank in the back, though at the moment the captain couldn't afford the substance.

His body lay on the steel table, covered by a blanket and sitting next to the still form was his little girl. Resa had pulled up a chair and sat beside the table, hands covering her face as she quietly sobbed and sniffled for the dead form of her saviour on the table and the fate of the other still on the planet's surface. Bomo entered the room with a dejected sigh, fully aware that this would hit her as hard as anything else she had been forced to go through over the last few months.

Her people sold to slavery, the death of her mother, sold as a slave to a cannibalistic maniac and now the deaths of the two people who had saved her from that hell. All of these events were traumatic for a child, even for one who had wells of strength like his little girl. She turned her head, eyes rimmed red with shed tears.

"Daddy," she whispered pitifully, accepting his hug as he placed his arms around her and held her close. "Why did they have to die?"

"Aayla's not dead yet," he told her as firmly as he could. Resa nodded as she buried her face into his tunic, sobbing silently as he stroked her frilled head. "Can you leave the room for a little while sweetie? I need just a few minutes."

She looked up at him for a moment, nodded and half walked half stumbled out of the Medbay, the automated double doors closing behind her. Bomo looked at the entrance for a long moment, before sighing and grabbing the seat sat on it. The Nosaurian looked up at the covered body for a long moment before he spoke. "Who would have thought it would come to this eh? The way you fought and with what I saw you do I thought you would last forever, as stupid as that sounds." He reached out with his clawed hands, slowly pulling away the sheet covering his upper body. Naruto's face was serene, eyes closed and face relaxed. "I'll make you a promise, I owe you that much. I'll get her back or die trying."

He placed the sheet back over his dead friend's head, before standing up and turning around towards the doors. He made it two steps before he heard a pained moan, followed by a rustle of fabric. Slowly Bomo turned with wide eyes just as the body sat up, sheet falling away, azure eyes and tanned face set in a pained expression, "Sage, God and the Ancestors that fucking hurt."

Naruto opened his eyes to be met with the wide orbs of Bomo Greenbark. The two friends' stared at each other for the longest time before the Nosaurian did the most humiliating thing he had ever done in his life. He screamed like a little girl before falling backwards, unconscious before he hit the floor. Naruto stared after him, eyes wide in surprise and shock, "Uh, Bomo, why did you act like you've seen a ghost?"

He didn't get an answer.

"Oh hell," Naruto muttered as he swivelled around to dangle his feet over the edge of the table. A stab of pain hit his midsection and he let out a sharp exhale of breathe before rubbing the reddened flesh. "Why do I feel like I was just trampled by the Toad boss?"

His memories returned in a flash and ignoring the searing pain of the supposedly fatal blaster bolt he stumbled over to Bomo, grabbed him by the scruff of his tunic and hauling him to his feet. The sudden movement brought the smaller sentient around, who groaned in slight pain before his dark eyes met Naruto's blue. His eyes widened, but to the blonds relief he didn't squeal this time, or fall over unconscious, instead he just stared at him before speaking.

"You're alive, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"How the hell are you alive?"

"Explain later," he replied hurriedly. "What happened when I was taken out? Where is everyone else?"

It took Bomo a minute or two to get Naruto up to speed on what had happened since he was taken out, and just as he finished the last syllable of his finishing sentence the blond was out the door at a trot. Bomo blinked in his direction, before noticing the low hum of the thrusters, the ship was preparing to launch. He passed by a still sobbing Resa, patting her on the head as he passed. The tiny girl looked up to see him rounding a corner, giving her a reassuring grin and a wave before vanishing.

"Daddy," she asked in a shocked voice as her father trotted past her. "Was that?"

"It was, and I'll explain later sweetie," Bomo replied as he too rounded the corner and entered the ready room in time to see Ko and Mezgraf staring at the corridor leading to the cockpit. "Did you guys see a dead guy walk past here?" Neither of them responded, but the Blood Carver just pointed in the direction of the cockpit with a quivering clawed digit. "Thanks!"

Bomo was pleased when he saw that he wasn't the only one who had a bad reaction from their compatriot returning from the dead. As he entered the cockpit, Ko and Mezgraf on his heels he saw with slight mirth that Schurk was staring wide eyes, frozen in place as Naruto stood tall like an immovable statue, arms folded. Crys had jumped from her pilot's chair and hugged him, crying and sobbing as he returned her embrace.

"My boy," the Captain asked with an awed and terrified voice. "How could you have survived?"

"Bloodline limit," Naruto replied. He knew they knew what he meant. He had explained to them what bloodline limits were, specialised abilities passed down genetically through certain clans on his home planet, abilities only those clans possessed. Many of them didn't believe him when he explained it, but they seemed to believe now. "My family was known to be quite long lived, and capable of surviving wounds considered fatal to everyone else."

Cryz parted and looked him in the eyes, "Naruto, its Aayla-"

"I know," Naruto cut her off. "Don't worry about it. You guys go on ahead and get out of here."

"And what are you going to do?"

He grinned at the statement, "I'm going to get both her and Dass back."

Schurk looked at him, "You do know whose holding them, don't you? It's a platoon of veteran Clone Troopers and a Sith Lord, even then how are you going to escape if we're not here!"

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Haven't thought that far ahead."

They looked at him as if he was crazy, and he probably was. Finally Ko spoke, "Let us help."

Naruto shook his head, "If anyone is seen leaving this ship then they'll blow it."

"Then how in the seven hells are you going to get off?" Mezgraf asked gruffly.

Naruto grinned, bringing his hands together to quickly make the sign of the tiger, _"Meisaigakure no Jutsu."_

To the men and woman of the _Uhumele _is seemed like their recently resurrected teammate faded away, becoming nothing more than a distortion before vanishing altogether. The crew continued to look on, seemingly wondering if they were looking at an actual ghost or not.

"Hey,"

Crys screamed and stumbled as his voice whispered into her ear, and after a moment Naruto reappeared with an apologetic smile. "Can I borrow a blaster?"

* * *

The first thing she became aware of was the residual pain in her chest, then sharp agony in all of her joints, like she hadn't used any of her muscles in a very long time. With a groan of discomfort Aayla forced her eyes to open, finding to her luck that her new environment was dimly lit. Slowly she took in her surroundings, noticing that she was lying on a floor of cracked concrete, a durasteel pole dug into the ground a few feet in front of her, chains led from the pole to stuncuffs secured a little too tightly across her wrists, biting painfully into her skin. A Clone Trooper stood a meter in front of her, armoured form stiffening as she returned to consciousness. His blaster carbine was trained on her a moment later.

"Aayla," she groggily looked over to see her fellow Jedi sitting on his knees to her left, head bowed and eyes closed. Another Clone Trooper stood a meter in front of him, blaster carbine levelled at his head. Dass didn't look much better than she was, but as she looked up at him he raised his head and offered her a pained, yet wry smile. "Welcome back."

She leaned against her elbows and pushed herself upright, trying and failing to ignore the sudden pain as it exploded in her head, groaning as a result. "Where are we?"

"Inside that old observatory I think," the master replied, seemingly more used to the pain than she was. He made a motion with his head, and she turned to see that they were in the remains of the observatories main observation deck. The telescope and majority of equipment seemed long gone. The domed glass roof was still there, but the shutters where the telescope aimed were down and bolted. What equipment within the chamber probably wasn't originally there, a stainless steel table where the coffin was placed and a number of computer consoles and old data storage devices, wiring snaked across the broken floor into the walls.

Vader stood at the far end with the historian, who was now dressed in some sort of old HASMAT suit. Nearly fifteen of the nineteen Clone Troopers stood guard at key points in the observatory, either guarding the exits or surrounding the Sith Lord in a protective circle.

"The crew?"

"He was as good as his word," Dass muttered, sending a look of barely kept contempt to the Sith Lords back. "As far as I know he let them go."

"And," she hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm and centre herself. Dass seemed to catch onto her train of thought, for he gave her a brave smile.

"They took his body with them Aayla," he soothed. "Don't worry."

Aayla gave nothing more than a solemn nod of her head before sending a truly hateful glare the Dark Lords way. "Why hasn't he killed us yet?"

There would be time to mourn later, and there would be time to avenge him later, code of the order be damned. Naruto was her friend, he had been there when she needed him, and in a heartbeat this bastards guard had killed him, she knew the code but right now she wanted nothing more than to kill the one who had killed those Younglings, who had helped massacre the Jedi Temple, whose turning spelt the deaths of so many friends and loved ones.

Dass shook his head, "I don't know, but it can't be good."

The two of them seemed to be talking in hushed tones, and even when she tried to centre herself in the force it was a struggle to hear the conversation. The stun bolt must have had a worse effect on her nerve endings than she thought. From what she could make out they were talking about the Jebble Box, and how they were certain that it was an ancient Jedi artefact. Aayla knew for a fact that she had been out cold and missed some pretty important information. "What are they going to do?"

He looked at her for a moment before sighing, "I only woke up a few moments before you did, but they were watching an old hologram recording, something which proves that the Jebble Box _is _an ancient artefact, mainly a Sith artefact, some old Sith Lord who wanted to live forever. It's a stasis chamber from what I was able to gleam."

"Shut it, both of you," Dass's Clone Trooper growled, making threatening gestures with his carbine.

Aayla wisely shut her mouth, and instead tried to listen in on the conversation between the historian and the Sith lord, barely able to hear his last sentence. "It also seems that only a Jedi is capable of opening the box."

Vader looked at the scientist for a moment before turning towards the Jebble Box, in a flash he activated his lightsaber and slashed a perfect horizontal arc, slicing through the box, leaving nothing but a hail of sparks and red hot metal where the crimson blade pierced hardened durasteel. The momentum of the slash sent a face of the box flying across the chamber, slamming into the ground with a great metallic thud and skidding to a halt.

The Dark Lord looked inside for a long moment before turning to one of the Clone Troopers, "Bring the woman to me."

The Clone saluted, and Aayla knew he was talking about her. Without a word the Trooper watching her mercilessly hauled her to her feet, fishing out a pair of keys to release the chains from her cuffs before forcing her across the chamber towards the Dark Lord. The man who was once Anakin Skywalker looked at her from behind his expressionless eye visors before pointing towards the recently sliced open Jebble Box, "Open it."

She looked down to see what was within the millennia old coffin, only to gasp in surprise, hidden away in that old rusted crate was another sarcophagus. Its surface seemed to be made of black marble, gleaming even in the low light. Even though it hadn't been opened yet she could feel the power thrumming from within, nonexistent before but now so strong she could have sworn she was looking at something which appeared to be made out of the force itself.

Vader seemed to notice this as well and a shove from one of the Clones nearly made her fall into the opened box. It was the scientist who spoke as he fearfully backed away from the sliced open casket. "Lord Vader! I beg you; do not open the casket yet. You heard what the Snivvian said in the recording – exposure to the Talisman can cause some sentient beings to transform into Rakghouls."

Aayla glared at the man, then at Vader before sighing in defeat. She didn't know what a Rakghoul was, and honestly she wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but what choice did she have. She took a deep, calming breath before placing her still cuffed hands onto the smooth surface. The moment her slender hands touched it the very surface gleamed and rippled, almost as if she had just placed her hands on the surface of still water. She felt the locking bolts release before their collective thuds reflected it, at least a dozen millennia old bolts slammed into position as they unlocked. A moment of silence passed before the sarcophagus clicked open, a hiss of steam and millennia old air released itself in the form of thick mist.

With a deep breath Aayla gripped the opened door and pulled up, prepared for death if it awaited her. What was within the millennia old box was something which she had never expected. Within the legendary Jebble Box was the body of a woman, a human woman. Her skin was pale with long black hair done up in a long braid, covered with tight white cloth. She wore a bodice like suit, skin tight, with slender armoured shoulder pads and long black gloves stretching from her elbows to her hands, a loincloth hung from her waist with skin tight black leather pants and knee high black leather boots with silver clasps, a lightsaber hilt was latched to her black utility belt, telling Aayla that whoever this was she was either a Jedi of a Sith.

There was one piece of jewelry on the woman's body, and compared to everything else she wore it looked gaudy. It was shaped like a scarab of some kind, latched around her slender neck, seemingly made of solid gold with a red ruby in its centre. Aayla stared at it, positive that she felt something unnaturally off about this decorative peace.

"Stars, it's true."

A black gloved hand grabbed her shoulder with enough force to bruise and threw her back, impacting hard against the concrete floor. A dozen clicks of armed blasters followed and Aayla slowly raised her hands in surrender, deciding to wisely back away for now. She was roughly picked up, dragged back beside Master Jennir, and rebound against the durasteel pole.

"No more than I expected," the old man said, returning to his regal composure, well as regal as a man in an old spacesuit can get. "Stasis casket or not no one could survive four thousand years."

She was more than just a preserved corpse. There was life in the body, a brief pulse in the force itself which grew stronger and stronger until it just seemed to boil over. A sudden and laboured gasp brought her attention back to the coffin as the human woman sat straight upright, gasping for air as if someone had tried to drown her in a lake. It was almost like she had just recently awoken from a dreadful nightmare.

"Zayne!" she half gasped, half screamed as she shot up, hand flying to grab Vaders right shoulder pad with a strong grip. The Dark Lord, seemingly not missing a beat held her steady as she continued to gasp for breath, leaning against his armoured chest as she slowly rose. She began to speak as she regained herself. "Have the Jedi come?"

She took one last deep breath before getting a good look at her supposed saviour. "Are you - ? Did you free me?"

Aayla was now only half listening to the conversation, using the distraction to begin using the force in one of the most subtle skills, with enough time she could pick and open the lock, all she needed was a few moments. By now the millennia old Jedi had been helped to her feet and was looking around, hand slowly reaching up to massage her temple. She had blue eyes, deep blue. "No, it's still there – I can feel – I can feel him."

"No!" her exclamation caught everyone off guard and everyone noticed it when her blue eyes contorted and bled until they were a bloody crimson. "No, you are still with me!"

Most of those present had already deduced that the young Jedi, millennium imprisoned Jedi, wasn't completely sane, but those within the chamber who were force-sensitive were able to deduce otherwise, something else was here, something old and vile. Aayla was barely aware of the young woman muttering something under her breath, as if something was talking to her. She reached up with both hands and placed them over her ears, as if trying to block out a great noise.

"How long – how long were we? How long was I – inside?"

"It's difficult to say for certain, but I believe you entered the Oubliette just before the bombardment of Jebble, midway through the Mandalorian wars if I remember," the historian explained with barely kept excitement. "It's truly a miracle that this device sustained you for so long."

"How long!" the woman asked with mounting frustration, grabbing hold of the old man's suit. She seemed to be lucid again at the least, and her eyes had returned to their natural blue, whatever had partially taken her over seemed to have receded, if just for the moment.

"Four thousand years," he replied fearfully.

"Four thousand, then Zayne failed," she repeated in shock, letting go of Peturri, but in a flash she was on him again, asking more questions. "What about the Covenant? Was it successful?"

The historian raised his hands up in an attempt to calm her, barely aware that Vader was descending the steps towards them, but stopped a few meters away. "I'm afraid I know nothing about a _Covenant_."

"Then what about the Rakghouls," she asked.

"Isolated and eventually wiped out on Taris,"

"And the Mandalorians, did the Mandalorians conquer the galaxy,"

Aayla frowned, Mandalorians? Conquer the galaxy? This woman was definitely from a very long time ago. The last time Mandalorians were a real threat was millennia ago, when they themselves had an empire which matched the Republic. A lot of information of that time was lost, considering the conflict almost brought the Republic to its knees and the first Jedi Purge began barely a decade after. If what she was hearing was right then there was no doubt that this woman was from that time.

"Then the Republic still stands?" she asked hopefully.

"No," the old man replied, pointing to Lord Vader. "The Republic was overthrown by the Sith."

The woman turned to look right at Darth Vader, and for a time afterward Aayla could have sworn she could have heard a pin drop, the chamber was so silent. Then she felt it, the ancient Jedi's very force sensitivity flickered before gaining strength, and both Jedi could feel her surprise through the force, then anger, then unnatural will. "Sith?"

Dass looked up from his imprisoned spot, "Uh-oh."

"I should have sensed it sooner!" the woman snarled before igniting her lightsaber.

* * *

"Lieutenant Stern we've lost contact with Sergeant Kol at the observation entrance," Clone Lieutenant Stern pressed a hand against the side of his helm to better hear his commanding officer. The Lieutenant was a veteran of two years on the frontline. He had fought against the worst the Separatists had to offer. He had stared down assassin droids and looked Dark Jedi in the eye.

"Acknowledged command," he replied into his comlink before motioning to two additional men and walking towards the exit. He checked the power pack of his DC-15S carbine, making sure for the umpteenth time if it was full before walking through the arch and down the cracked steps to the ground. His two Troopers flanked him, helmeted heads darting from side to side in search of their missing squad.

Stern waited for a moment before looking to the subordinate flanking his left and motioning him to check the left side, and copied the motion to the one on his right. Both Troopers nodded and moved about the task, disappearing around the corners. Stern clicked on his comlink and switched it to the missing squad's channel. "Stern to Sergeant Kol, do you copy?"

Nothing but static;

"This is Lieutenant Stern to Sergeant Kol. You missed your last check in, please respond, over."

Still nothing but static;

"Trooper Dallas," he asked over the channel.

"All clear sir."

He nodded, "Trooper Morgan."

No answer;

Stern frowned at the lack of acknowledgement, "Trooper Morgan, please respond."

Still no answer;

"Dallas, get over here."

The Trooper was around the corner in a heartbeat, carbine held at waist height as he flanked his commanding officer. Stern gave his subordinate a nod before moving to his right, where he had sent the now missing Trooper Morgan. "Command this is Lieutenant Stern, no contact with missing squad and I am now missing an additional Trooper."

"Copy that Lieutenant, sending a few more men out,"

"Will do, Stern out"

He pressed himself against the cracked concrete of the arch, nodded to his fellow Trooper and peeked to the side. What he saw made his eyes widen behind his helm. The entire squad was lying in a pile, blood pooling on the ground around them, and several feet away was the still form of Trooper Morgan lying on his stomach, hands clenched to his blaster carbine.

"Force me," he muttered, turning to his subordinate only to see that he was not there anymore, only an empty space where the man was supposed to be watching his flank. "Trooper Dallas, respond."

No answer;

"Command this is Stern, I've just lost Dallas, need rein-"

A kunai, imbued with wind chakra was flung from the darkness, slicing through the protective armour of his helm like a knife through warm butter and imbedding itself to the hilt in his temple. Stern fell back, dead before he hit the ground.

Naruto fell from his perch on the rooftop, releasing his stealth Ninjutsu before crouching to pull out his kunai, wiping the blood from the weapon on the dead Troopers armour. He stood and looked to the entrance, "Right that's six down, twelve to go."

"_Hang on Aayla, I'm coming."

* * *

_

_**Author's Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively. I make nothing from this story.

_**Author's Note 2: **_For those of you who don't know about Dark Times and don't have knowledge of the parallels series of the comics then please be patient, I will explain in detail this woman and her origins with time, so please be patient in that regard. In the next chapter it's a three-way-brawl between Darth Vader, the unknown Millennia old possessed Jedi and the last surviving and most powerful Shinobi in the galaxy.

_**Author's Note 3: **_I apologise that this chapter took so long to update, but I decided to take a break from writing with Christmas and the New Year around the corner, plus I have an exam for the 10th so expect updates to slow for a while. It's a little late, but from what I can tell its still New Year's Day, so Happy New Year everyone, here's your New Years Gift. Oh and sorry if this seemed rushed.


	10. Shadow of a Distant Time

_**Chapter 9**_

_**An Ancient Evil**_

_**Part II**_

She tried to ignore him as she stood upright on shaking legs. It was the only way she could keep her sanity in check, and it was the only way she could stop herself from being taken over. Dead Karness Muur may be, but the effects of the talisman locked around her neck kept his disembodied spirit from crossing over to whatever hell awaited him.

Looking away from the enraged Sith spirit she took in her present position, an ancient chamber of some description, vines clung to the walls, floor was cracked and broken, everything was worn with age, even the still functioning equipment. Then she took in the surrounding people, none of whom were familiar to her.

The nearest one was a sentient being dressed from head to toe in ancient black battle-armour, reminiscent of some medieval cultures she had witnessed in her youth. A billowing cape hung from his armoured shoulders, obscuring his arms and sides, but she noticed the silver hilt of a lightsaber clipped to a black utility belt. He was allowing her to rest her hand on his shoulder, to keep her still precarious balance. The next one was an old man, dressed in what looked like a worn HASMAT suit, obscuring everything but his face.

Other sentient's surrounded the platform she found herself on, wearing white armour and carrying small compact blasters she was unfamiliar with, military grade by their pristine conditions. They were positioned in a rough circle around her and the two men who freed her, and there were still more guarding the exits to the chamber, standing to attention with military precision born from years of training.

A small part of her was saddened to see that Jaden was not present. He had promised to return and free her once he cleared his name, but it appeared that he never did. It passed quickly as she schooled her mind and took a breath. She was Celeste Morne, Jedi Shadow and agent of the Watcher's Council.

This was nothing.

"_Curse that fool Dreypa and his blasted Oubliette! What use is it to live through millennia if one is trapped inside a box, and to be put inside so soon after finding a suitable host!"_

A single word stood out from the rest of the spirits rant, a word which made the Jedi Shadows mind blanch and chilled her to the very bone. She whispered the very word, "Millennia?"

For a brief moment she felt panic grip her, and the Sith Lord's presence was more than willing to take full advantage. She felt his presence creep into her mind, psychic tendrils of power trying to break through her mental defences. She clamped her hands over her ears to try and stop it, knowing full well that her usual clear blue eyes were bleeding crimson. "How long, how long were we – was I – inside?"

"It's difficult to say for certain, but I believe you entered the Oubliette just before the bombardment of Jebble." It was the old man who answered her question, drawing her attention to him as he continued on with his ramblings. Celeste didn't like this man, for no other reason that he looked at her as a scientist would look at an experiment. "Truly it's amazing that this device sustained you for so long."

She wasn't in the mood for this old man rambling on and on, so with mounting agitation she grabbed hold of his collar, forcing him to look at her. "How long!"

"Four thousand years," the man squeaked fearfully in response, raising his hands in an effort to calm her.

To the Shadow the words hit her like a jackhammer. Four thousand years? She had been locked away inside that sarcophagus for four thousand years. The revelation was a shock to her, such a shock that her whole body seemed to go numb. Everyone she knew, everything she considered important was gone, no one she knew could possibly still live after such a long time. What about everything from her time? A million questions jumbled through her tired and weary mind.

Did the Republic still stand?

What about the Jedi?

What about the Mandalorians?

"Four thousand..."she repeated the words numbly.

Karness Muur was right in her face, raising a long bony finger, _"So much time wasted!"_

The questions spilled from her like an avalanche and the old man was just barely able to keep up with her. "What about the Covenant? Was it successful?"

The old man raised his hands up in an attempt to calm her. "I'm afraid I know nothing about a _Covenant_."

"Then what about the Rakghouls," she asked.

"Isolated and eventually wiped out on Taris." She breathed a sigh of relief at hearing that information, thankful that the disease those turned creatures carried was destroyed with them.

"And the Mandalorians, did the Mandalorians conquer the galaxy," she asked, with the same sharpness as before.

"No," he replied, and for a brief moment she felt hope flair in her chest, and also a little smug satisfaction when her poltergeist openly snarled in disgust.

"So the Republic still stands," she asked, hoping with all her might for a 'yes'. That hope came crashing down with the old man's next few words.

"No," the old man replied, pointing towards the black armoured figure who had descended the steps. "It was taken over by the Sith."

She turned and looked at the figure in shock and disbelief. The Sith took over the Republic? No, it was not possible. Sith were extinct, had been for millennia. Yet as she timidly reached out through the force to feel his presence she knew it was true. This man's presence was a cesspool of negative emotions, not directed at her specifically, all she gained from his thoughts of her was curiosity. Yet she felt darkness within him, ten times worse than anything she had ever felt in her lifetime.

"Sith," she muttered the name as if it were a curse, aware as Karness Muur said the same name with a kind of smug satisfaction. She ignored him and ignited her lightsaber, feeling comfort in the heat which emanated from the weapon. "I should have felt it sooner!"

She surged forward with a battle-cry, bringing her lightsaber down in a diagonal slash with all her might. Celeste heard another unmistakable _snap-hiss _before she saw the unknown Sith Lord bring up his own lightsaber to parry her strike. Morne used the momentum to somersault over the Dark Lords head and land on the ground with perfect ease. Already the white armoured soldiers were surrounding her, some already firing crimson bolts from their blasters.

She moved her lightsaber deftly in response, parrying and deflected blaster bolts with perfect precision and accuracy before spinning around to block her main opponent's blade. Years of training and experience took over as she took in her surroundings and prepared strategies. Her opponent was bigger than her, heavier than her and much stronger than her. His attack was easily parried, yet the force behind it sent her skidding back several feet.

The Sith used the chance, lifting the now empty Oubliette with the force and sending it flying towards her. Celeste took up a basic stance, lifted her golden bladed weapon over her head and as the now empty coffin was within arm's reach brought it down in a slash, cutting the gleaming sarcophagus in two. The two halves flew in opposite directions. One slammed into a Trooper, caving in his armoured chest, and the other hit the ground and skidded to a halt. Celeste spun and danced, deflecting blaster bolts from the surrounding Troopers and pieces of debris flung at her by the Sith Lord.

She wasn't given enough of a respite to truly ascertain the strength of her opponent, but from what little she was able to gleam she gained a conclusion. Her opponent was powerful, almost extremely powerful, a living maelstrom in the force. She had only ever met a single Jedi even remotely close to him in power, and that was a rogue Jedi Master named Revan.

The Dark Lord was on her again, moving faster than a man his size should and Celeste was forced to abandon her train of thought and focus on defending herself. There would be time for questions later; first she needed to survive the next few minutes.

* * *

The battle taking place was just the distraction they needed and both Aayla and Dass used it to its full advantage. With painstakingly subtle manipulations with the force they were able to click open the locks of their stuncuffs, releasing them from their bindings, now all they needed to do was get their lightsabers and leave.

Aayla's search for her lightsaber was interrupted when a piece of the sarcophagus came hurtling towards her, forcing her to abandon her prone position and dive to the side with a force augmented leap. The coffin missed her feet by millimetres, snapping the steel poles with its force and skidding across the broken concrete for several meters. If she hadn't freed herself when she did then she probably wouldn't have survived that.

Dass was by her side, helping her to her feet while keeping a wary eye on the carnage taking place in front of them. The woman was outnumbered a dozen to one, plus Vader, but she was fighting well. Already she had killed at least four Clones, and was holding her own against the recently christened Dark Lord.

However;

"Do you feel that?" Jennir asked her.

Aayla nodded her head as she watched the duel between Sith Lord and Jedi Knight, "Something's hanging over her, like a shroud."

The older Master nodded, "Yes, and it reeks of the Dark Side."

"And death," Aayla agreed. It seemed to be coalescing around the human woman and it felt dark, vile, and ominous. The young Jedi studied this new force sensitive being before noticing something out of place with her attire. The woman's attire was a light armoured suit, specially made so that its bearer could move fast and also get some protection. She dressed like a soldier, and the scarab shaped neckpiece latched around her neck seemed so out of place with the rest of her clothing.

"Hey there," she froze at the voice behind her, breath hitching as she edged around. No it couldn't be him. Her mind was playing tricks on her. But there he was. That spiked blonde hair, those brilliant blue eyes, even those whisker marks on his cheeks and that stupid grin. Naruto was crouched behind her, grin slowly morphing to a frown as he studied her shell shocked expression.

She timidly reached out, half expecting her hand to faze through him, yet her palm rested against his chest. She was barely aware that Dass was looking at the blond with an almost comical expression, eyes wide and face going white as a sheet. "You're alive."

"Yeah,"

She breathed out, realising just now that she had been holding it. Relief and joy at seeing her friend crouching behind her made her heart soar. He was already leaning over her shoulder, frowning as he examined the stun cuffs for a moment. "A kunai isn't going to break through these, unless."

He did indeed grip a kunai, concentrated for a moment and allowed his own chakra to coat the blade. Aayla had seen him do this a few times before, nature manipulation he called it, a technique where he was able to manipulate the surrounding air into a condensed coating sharper than any blade.

He looked at her and smiled. "Hold still."

He brought the kunai down, and Aayla watched as it cut through the stun cuff on her right hand like a knife through warm butter. He repeated the motion with the left, freeing her from her imprisonment. The moment she was free the young Jedi did something she thought she'd never do. She slapped him, and then she hugged him despite his surprise at the sudden reddened cheek.

"Idiot," she choked, just barely keeping herself in control. He was alive. He wasn't dead. He was alive. "Why did you put me through that? I thought you were dead!"

Naruto's eyes softened as he put his arms around her, returning her embrace with a tight one of his own. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking to make you cry."

"I'm not crying." She whispered defiantly, even though she knew a few tears were streaking down her cheeks. What a useless Jedi she was turning out to be, breaking down in a situation as bad as this.

"Excuse me," Dass hissed, keeping an eye on the fight taking place before them. It was amazing nobody noticed their rescuer by now. "Can you two do this later?"

"Oh, sure thing," Naruto muttered apologetically, moving from his friends embrace to free their fellow comrade in arms. "Both of you get out of here once I free you. There's a shuttle at the other side of the tower, lightly guarded. Try and take it without them alerting their friends above. If I'm not there in five minutes then get the hell out of here."

"What about you?"

Naruto grinned at the man's question. "I'm going to get some payback."

* * *

She was surrounded, winded and secure in the knowledge that there was no way she was going to win. The Sith Lord was just that much stronger than her, and the spirit within the Muur Talisman was cackling in her mindscape, joyful and delighted in her entrapment.

Celeste was fully aware of what Karness Muur was planning. His plan was to switch hosts from her to Darth Vader, gain his undeniable power and take control of the galaxy. Images of a possible future swirled through her mind's eye. Either she was having a vision in this lull in the battle or her torturer was feeding her his deepest wishes.

Either way she knew she couldn't possibly win.

The images showed the black armoured Sith Lord, Darth Vader, kneeling before the ethereal image of Karness Muur. The body of a man, wearing black robes, was lying several meters away. She immediately knew that the body had once been a Sith Lord, maybe this Darth Vader's current master.

More images assaulted her psyche, this time of Vader standing atop a ridge, lightsaber held high over his head and the golden trinket of the talisman clutched around his neck. Fire and lava was spilling out all around him, white armoured soldiers were charging forth below him and the force cried out as thousands of people screamed in agony before going eerily silent.

She wasn't aware if these images were true or false, but she was certain of one thing. If the Sith Lord before her took the talisman from her a great evil would be unleashed upon the galaxy, and every sentient being would suffer for it.

It was with that in mind that she made a terrible choice.

"I will not give you the talisman," she stated simply, and ignoring the spirits outraged cries reached deep within herself, found that small box in her mind which held all of her negative emotions, all of her hate, fear, pain and loss and with a release of breath prepared to open it.

There was a blur of motion and when she looked up a figure stood between her and the Dark Lord. He was tall, dressed in a black longcoat with crimson flamed trim which flapped and fluttered as if on a non-existent wind. A katana was held in his hand, rippling with some kind of energy as he engaged the black armoured giant before her.

A gruff, gravelly voice echoed through the chamber. "Hey, remember me?"

The sounds of combat began anew, only they weren't aimed at her or the Sith or the blond newcomer currently engaging Darth Vader. Celeste looked around to see the white armoured soldiers opening fire, spilling forth azure blasts of blaster fire into the dimly lit chamber. Knives were thrown back, dull silver glinting in the low light. She saw a knife pierce straight through one of the soldier's visors.

All the while Lord Vader and the stranger stood in the middle of the chaos and anarchy, katana locked together with lightsaber as the two brought all of their strength into their strikes, each one trying to overpower the other. Finally Vader spoke. "I thought you were, dead."

"Me, dead?" the stranger asked dubiously before releasing a bark of laughter. "Who the hell do you think I am?"

The two disengaged and leapt back, Lord Vader skidding to a halt while the blond stranger landing right beside her in a crouch, sword held in a backwards grip in his right hand while his left came up to make some kind of signal. He took a deep breath and to her shock and awe released a thin blast of air, so dense that she could see it as clearly as she could see a blaster bolt.

"Fūton: Shinkūgyoku."

The bolt of air spiralled towards Vader, who simply raised his free hand and blocked it with the most subtle force push Celeste had ever seen. For all intents and purposes it simply looked like he stopped the attack with his bare hand. Such subtle and perfect manipulation of the force yet the newcomer didn't appear worried in the least.

If anything he whistled his appreciation. "Seen a lot of things, but I've never seen a Vacuum Sphere stopped like that, dodged yeah but stopped."

Vader didn't reply for a long moment. "Who are you?"

"Ah right," the blond replied with a grin. "I forgot that I hadn't introduced myself yet. The name's Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"You seem very forthcoming with information."

He smiled a smile without mirth. "I believe you should know the name of your killer, Lord Vader."

"I see," the Dark Lord didn't seem the least bit perturbed. "Then you may call me Darth Vader."

Celeste could hardly breath, feeling through the force the great unrestrained power which flowed between these two, enough to make her feel lightheaded and short on breath. It was as if the force was coming alive, thrumming with power and substance, and these two beings presented the epicentre of the vortex. It was unlike anything she had ever felt in her life.

It took her longer than it should to realise that the sounds of battle taking place around them had stopped and she looked around to see the bodies of the white soldiers lying on the ground, and the victors standing over them.

She almost gasped when she looked upon a handful of identical figures, dressed in the same clothes with the same facial features. Some were grinning like madmen, others were glaring, some were twirling knives in their hands and some looked as interested in the proceedings as one would in watching paint dry.

Then they all vanished in a mass of white smoke, and the battle site was empty of all life but her, the Sith, the scientist and the unidentified man, Naruto.

What a strange name.

Before Celeste could fully grasp the situation she heard coarse laughter pounding through her skull. The spirit within the talisman was elated, joyful. The laughter seemed to continue for an eternity before Muur calmed down and spoke in his half mad speech.

_- Yes, yes, this one will do. What power, what ability, what raw strength –_

Morne felt a monumental chill slid down her spine. The visions returned full swing, only instead of Vader standing on the fields of the doomed world it was this new presence, Naruto, katana held high, eyes as black as night with crimson irises and slit pupils.

The gaze of the Muur talisman had shifted from one powerhouse to the other, and if it succeeded the galaxy was doomed.

* * *

The Stormtrooper guards didn't stand a chance. They saw Aayla and Dass coming right at them, lightsabers ignited and held at the ready. They fired upon them, watching as the azure bolts of their blaster discharges were effortlessly deflected as the two Jedi advanced.

The two worked in perfect synchrony, each aiming for a Clone. Aayla ducked as her opponent tried to use his blaster carbine like a club before lunging forward, lightsaber blade effortlessly piercing the plastoid armour from chest to back. Dass sidestepped his as the Clone fired one last shot at point blanc, and swinging his lightsaber in a wide arc decapitated his foe.

A third trooper, obviously the pilot, was attempting to close the ramp way, blaster pistol in his free hand and aiming straight for Aayla's head. She took aim, leaned back and threw her lightsaber before he could fire off a single shot, watching as the azure blade sliced him neatly in half at the waist.

The two Jedi exchanged a look before moving up the landing ramp, every move cautious as they checked the cargo hold for any additional troopers.

"Can you fly this crate?" she asked as she retrieved her lightsaber hilt and clipped it to her black belt.

"This thing," Dass looked thoughtful. "It's a newer model than the ones we used to fly, but there shouldn't be too much difference."

"Then get it started up, by the time Naruto comes out we're going to have to leave in a hurry."

Dass nodded before setting off to the cockpit, leaving Aayla alone in the cargo hold of the shuttle. She double checked the hold again for her own piece of mind before following the Master to the cockpit. Jennir was already starting her up, the engine whining to life as he punched several codes into the pilots control console.

"What do they have in orbit?" he asked.

Aayla wasted no time as she jumped into the co-pilots black chair and began punching buttons. It wasn't long before a stream of information passed by her eyes. "A single ship in high orbit," she hesitated for a moment as she read the additional information, cursing internally as she did so. "Looks like a capital-ship, _Venator-class_ Star Destroyer."

"Ah Sith me that's just what we need." Jennir cursed as he punched several more buttons. "Doesn't look like they've caught on to what's happening yet."

"Do you think we could lose them?"

"This bucket of bolts against a Star Destroyer," Jennir gave her an incredulous look. "If we really gunned her engines we might make it out, but that's assuming your friend takes everyone out of the equation. Not an easy job."

"He's up to it." She stated simply.

"Yeah but there's something up with that woman they freed." Dass frowned as he spoke. "It felt like she was being possessed or something like that."

Aayla thought about it. There had been reports of dark force users being able to cling onto the living plain, containing their souls in a sarcophagus or a container like a holocron or a piece of jewellery, waiting for a chance to latch onto a living being and take them over. It wasn't unheard off, but such instances hadn't occurred in her lifetime, force if she thought about it the last documented incident was centuries, maybe even millennia ago.

"She might very well be." Aayla replied after a moment, suddenly getting an urge to rush back to that cave and help him, but she knew she'd only be a hindrance if she returned.

She had to trust that Naruto would be able to make it back safe and sound.

She had to.

* * *

_**Authors Alert: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Authors Alert: **__A short chapter this time, and I apologise for that, however I've had sort of a shift in my priorities as of late with the final year of my course and all. The only story I was even able to update was my Star Wars/Warhammer 40K crossover and only because writing it has come very easy, hopefully I'll be able to begin writing this story again soon._


	11. One Curse to Another

_**Chapter 10**_

_**An Ancient Evil; pt III**_

Naruto frowned as he watched the battle progress from the sidelines, arms folded as his summoned militia of clones rushed in to the attack, only to be stopped and pushed back again by his opponent. He had heard that this man, the iron fist of the newly made Galactic Empire was not a weakling, and now that he watched him fight he could believe it.

His lightsaber was an incandescent blade of crimson death as it cut through clone after clone with the ease of a knife through warm butter, any who attempted to parry or block with their kunai found the Ninja weapons sliced cleanly through, followed by them being dispelled from usually the same fatal strike.

Darth Vader was a soldier, he could see that much. His movements were honed by years of fighting for his life and his ability to use the force far surpassed any Jedi he had met thus far. Though considering he had only met two during his travels that wasn't a decent enough hypothesis. For each clone he mercilessly cut down he was using his other abilities to throw the majority of his pseudo-selves back, a force push here, a thrown piece of debris there and a thrown lightsaber there.

Directly aimed at him he might add.

He leaned back and missed the hissing blade of plasma by mere millimetres, feeling the molten hot temperature tinge the tip of his nose before it soared past. The speed of the sudden strike made him do that a little too quickly, and he fell on his back before rolling to the side and getting to his feet. The Shinobi remained in a crouch, not even looking back when the blade spun overhead and cut right through at least four of his dwindling number of clones, landing back in the Dark Lords right hand.

This man was dangerous, definitely not someone a regular Shinobi could handle. In strength level Naruto would say he was near High Jōnin, maybe even low Kage. He would certainly give old man Sarutobi or half of the village leaders he had met in his lifetime a run for their money.

Then there was the other one.

As a Jedi Naruto had hoped the third member of their brawl would back him up, or at least do something to aide him in eliminating this tyrant. Life is rarely that easy, he supposed. The female Jedi was still fighting the Dark Lord, but she was also fighting him as well, cutting a swath of destruction through his clone's ranks with her own azure bladed lightsaber.

With a sigh Naruto drew his katana once again from its sheath, channelling wind chakra into the blade to make it a match for the lightsabers he would be aligned against and jumped forward with a chakra propelled leap just as Vader cut through his last clone. He brought his blade over his head and was about to cut down with all he had. Vader was not that easy. He spun around, swinging his lightsaber in a sweeping arc which neatly cut him in half.

A quick victory, if that was the real him.

The clone went up in white smoke. More smoke than usual, obscuring the whole battlefield. If Darth Vader was surprised by this he couldn't show it. He spun around parrying Naruto's swing from the bottom left, and then went on the offensive himself, sending him flying with a kick to the midsection. Two more clones flew from the mist, one from the left while the other came from the right, both holding chakra laced swords.

A force push from his free hand sent the one on the right thrown back while his lightsaber parried and ran through the clone on the left. Darth Vader spun around, blocking a lightsaber strike from the Jedi, or was it the Jedi. Her eyes had changed colour to a vicious, ominous crimson, and the snarl of anger morphed her beautiful features.

"That's it." Vader taunted. "Give in."

There was a flurry of movement between them. A foot slamming into Celeste's chest, throwing her back while a diagonal slash from a glowing katana forcing Vader to rapidly backpedal. Naruto stood right in the centre just as the mist finally dispelled, glowering at the two of them. The katana was trained on Vader, while a similarly glowing kunai was pointed in the direction of Morne, who was now groggily getting back to her feet.

"Sorry to cut this whole thing short and all," Naruto said with a toothy grin. "But I have a few friends waiting for me with a ship, and I can't disappoint them."

"Do you really think you can just walk away?" Vader asked.

"You're strong _my Lord_." Naruto replied, sarcasm at the title clearly in evidence as he stood there, eyes closed. "But I'm done playing around, and like I said I'm nearly out of time. Let me show you what a true Shinobi can do."

Vader was about to attack, but then he felt something. It took him barely a second to realise it was the force. Naruto's facial features changed, eyelids changing colour to a yellowish-orange and when he opened them his irises had changed colour from blue to yellow, pupils morphed from orbs to horizontal bars. The force was the most troubling issue. It was coalescing around this man, encompassing his form and strengthening him far more than anything Vader had ever seen.

"Sith eyes," Vader pondered, before realising his mistake. "No, they're not."

A flash of motion too fast for the eye to see was the only warning the Dark Lord received before Naruto reappeared, well within his defences, an orb of electric blue energy formed on his outstretched palm and slamming into Vaders abdomen with incredible force. He felt armour crack and a great sharp pain before he was thrown back, roaring in surprise and agony as he spun out of control across the chamber and slammed into the wall at the other side, leaving a crater in the concrete before slumping to the ground.

As soon as the change came it went, Naruto closed his eyes. The pigmentation on his eyelids vanished and when he opened them again the emotional azure was back in attendance. "Sorry, but like I said I'm in a hurry."

Then he was walking, footsteps resounding across the broken stone tiles, right towards the fallen form of Celeste Morne even as the woman rose on her hackles and looked up at him with widened eyes. He had done in barely two minutes what she couldn't do. He defeated a Sith Lord of considerable strength.

"_A little closer."_

She froze as she heard Muur's sickeningly sweet voice emanate through her being, almost as if he were beckoning a child to come over to him. She was about to shout at him, order him to stay away, but a sudden weight fell upon her. In a heartbeat she was unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything as the blond continued his approach. It took her a moment to realise that she was no longer strong enough to control Muur. He may have been unable to take over her body, but he was more than capable of hindering her movements.

"We're running out of time," she looked up to see the blond crouch down so that he was face to face with her, features confused by her sudden reaction. "You can either come with us or stay here, your choice."

"_Now!"_

The golden scarab necklace detached from around her neck, its clasps clicking open was the only sound Celeste could hear. It fell for a moment, then in a blur of motion righted itself in midair and shot forward. It pierced through the blonds guard with ease and latched onto his neck, azure eyes widening as a click resounded through the chamber.

Celeste's breath caught in her throat as the man recoiled as if he were struck, and when he opened his eyes they weren't the frowning azure which met her.

They were sickly golden eyes.

Sith eyes

* * *

It was done.

He had done it.

After waiting for millennia for the perfect host he had finally found him and his power was glorious. Karness Murr threw his head back and laughed in uncontrollable delight as he sensed his new hosts confusion and pain. The implantation of his beloved talisman into a host was always a painful one, and the long deceased Sith revelled in his victims pain.

He was a strong one though. The Sith Lord saw this the moment he entered the inner sanctum of this man's mind. Stronger than perhaps even his last host and that quelled his laughter and replaced it with a frown. Would he be as difficult to control as her? Would it take him years, perhaps even decades to weaken his mental defences for his final push?

He shook it off, all in time.

The mass of information filtered past him, images of this boy's life from the day of his birth all the way to the present. Everything he could remember passed Murr by as a blaze of images, some he understood but many others he did not and some made him question this one's sanity. The images were jumbled.

_He saw a great monster, a nine tailed demon whose power dwarfed all others._

_A child, standing before a crowd of adults, their backs turned to him._

_A mountain, the faces of four warriors etched into its surface._

_The silhouette of a tall man, huge form of a snake coiled around his body and ready to strike._

_Nine figures, dressed in flowing black cloaks with crimson clouds stood together, features shadowed by a rising sun._

_A tall, nightmarish tower overlooking a city of cold steel, a single figure perched upon a hideous stone gargoyle, eyes of a god seeing everything and anything._

_A man, face obscured by an orange swirling mask, looked upon him with a single blood red eye._

_A war which engulfed a continent, tens of thousands of men and women fighting against a sea of inhuman faces;_

_Hope among ruin_

_He holds a woman in his arms. She is beautiful, hand caressing her stomach as her milky eyes look to the setting sun._

_The destruction of a home, a city in flames;_

_The death of loved ones; _

_The image of a girl with pink hair, dull green eyes looking into his;_

_The boy crying as he held the lifeless body of a raven haired woman, his lover, in his arms._

_Dozens of bodies lie around him, friends and family all dead, all gone._

_Silence_

_The war ends_

_But the scars remain_

_He is alone_

_Vengeance is all that remains..._

Mental defences came down, hard. The images and voices fade away, leaving nothing but eternal darkness for Karness Murr's descent. The Sith Lord did not feel a bit of irritation, if anything he felt a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction and a supreme sense of impending victory. He had indeed found the perfect host.

"There is so much darkness in this one, so much pain."

This would be easier than he thought.

A light finally appeared below him and the Sith took the chance to slip through to the inner recesses of this one's mind, to learn more about him and his weaknesses. He would exploit these, use them to his advantage and then this body would be his for the taking.

_An Angel;_

_The image of a Twi'lek woman, young, healthy and beautiful appeared before him._

"You care about this one do you?" he whispered, frown turning to a grin.

_She was his rock, his cure. _

_She kept the nightmares away, made him feel like he could live again, truly live._

_He loved the way she laughed_

_The way she smiled_

_The way she was there_

_Always there_

_She made him feel like he could love again_

_But could he put her through it?_

_Should he continue to let her in?_

_He was a curse_

_Everyone around him gets hurt_

_Everyone around him dies_

_No!_

_He won't_

_He wouldn't_

_If he let her in she would die_

_Just like Kakashi_

_Just like Tsunade_

_Just like Sakura_

_Just like... Hinata_

"Had enough?"

Karness Murr's eyes snapped open to look upon his host. He wasn't falling anymore. He was now in an endless white, another void of nothing. The man stood several meters away from him, arms folded and a piercing glare which could melt steel. There was no malice in the glare. No burning hatred or raw passion. There was just a cold indifference to the stare, as if he were looking upon an irritation.

Murr felt a brief spark of annoyance before pushing it down and smiling coldly.

"Yes,"

"Will you leave?"

"I think I'll stay."

He grinned, so wide that his eyes shut. "Suit yourself."

"Who are you?" There was something wrong about this one, something different and unsettling.

"The darkness in his heart." He replied, grin fading and eyes opening. They weren't oceanic blue anymore, but a feral crimson, like blood bled into the sclera. He smiled a cold smile and spoke in a mocking tone, voice changing to a guttural growl which made the tiny hairs on the back of Murr's neck stand on end. "Enjoy the rest _**of your tour**_."

Then he was gone.

The white void was gone.

And Murr was falling again.

He landed with a splash, managing to remain on his feet despite the aftershock of falling from a great height. The Sith, bewildered and confused, looked around to see that the scene had changed yet again, and not into one he particularly liked either. He was standing in a tunnel of some kind, with cracked walls and a roof laden with black cables. The light was dim, with great shadows obscuring everything. The only sources of light were dull glow lamps, some shining, others were dim and others still were dark and dead, casting even more shadows. The corridor was flooded, almost up to his knees and a continuous dripping sound could be heard.

There was something else though, something beyond the surface of this underground labyrinth he had stumbled upon.

The air was heavy.

It was difficult to breathe.

There was a light ahead, bright and inviting. The Sith Lord stopped for a moment, considering it to be a trap, but shrugged and continued. The further he walked the heavier the air seemed to become and Murr felt himself truly begin to struggle, but he pressed forward, passing through the threshold between the underground corridor and what awaiting him beyond.

There was darkness.

An endless void of black, but there was something else.

A ball of pure white light, rippling and rotating like a sun, levitated before him. Just being this close to the source of the light was stifling. The air was so heavy that it made him wince. The heat this strange sphere gave off was staggering. But the feeling he gained from being in such close proximity rendered all of these discomforts mute.

Power

Energy

Strength

The force given shape and form

Four strange wooden gates of worn red surrounded the sphere of power, most likely positioned in the primary four directions of north, south, east and west. Though how one could tell direction in this place was difficult to say. What was their purpose in this place, perhaps as restraints to keep this great power in check?

He took one step towards this power.

Then two

Three

He could not take another step, something slammed against him and he was flying. Karness Murr didn't even register what hit him, but by the time he had recovered his senses he was lying in another chamber, cursing he forced himself to his feet and surveyed his new surroundings, noticing with disgust that he was soaking. The flooding had reached knee deep here. The sphere of power was gone, but the heaviness in the air remained.

Some form of noise resounded through this new chamber, like the heavy inhales and exhales of breathing from a giant monster. The steel bars of a cage caught his attention, covering the entire side of the massive chamber. There was nothing but darkness within, was it empty. He noticed a slip of paper covering the area where the lock would be, a strange glyph of some description drawn into it with black ink.

"_**Little fool."**_

The pressure in the air multiplied, and with a gasp Murr was forced to his knees, air leaving his lungs and not returning. The Sith Lord gagged at the lack of oxygen entering his lungs. Then he felt it, a pair of eyes glaring at him.

"_**Humans never cease to amaze me." **_He looked up in time to see huge vulpine eyes of crimson, just like the avatar of his host he had met in the white void, only magnified a thousand fold in power. A grin appeared next from the darkness, rows of white jagged teeth which glinted in the low light. _**"You're stupidity amazes me."**_

Fear

Panic

Terror

All of these emotions hit Murr at once. He was unable to move as he was telekinetically pulled towards the cage. His mind screamed at his body, demanding that it resist, but his spiritual body did not respond to his very simple command. He was kneeling before the bars now, and the last thing he saw were ebony black claws exploding from the gaps in the bars, ready to crush him.

The last thing he heard was the monsters laughter, vicious and joyful.

The last thing he saw was the ebony claws descending upon him.

Murr screamed.

* * *

The scream echoed through the small chamber, and Celeste Morne could only look on in awe and terror as the golden scarab that kept the spirit of Karness Murr detached from the man's neck. She recognised the voice, if only just, as the Sith Lords, but she had never heard his voice like this. It was terrified, so afraid that he sounded like he had finally surrendered to his own insanity, crying and screaming as the scarab fell to the ground and scurried around.

"_Monster." _It screamed continuously, sanity long since left. _"Must escape, must escape. Those eyes, by the force those eye. The claws, the claws, leave me, leave me! I need to hide, I need to hide!"_

Celeste watched with widening eyes before looking up at the blond haired man, he had fallen to his knees, holding himself up with his sword as a crouch, panting and sweating from his exertions. To throw off the invading spirit of Karness Murr was no small feat.

Why couldn't she move? She tried to move a finger, but all it did was twitch. Is this what parting with the talisman did to her? It weakened her motor functions and made her thinking sluggish, though her mind was clearer than it had been in some time.

Was she dying?

Had the talismans dark magic which had kept her alive been cancelled?

Was she going to die?

Death would be welcome. She had shamed the Covenant and the Jedi by believing in Zane and not killing her-self the moment Murr entered her body. At least with her death the backlash would have killed him too, right?

"_I need you."_

She opened her eyes and saw the scarab scurry towards her. Something fluttered in her stomach, some strong emotion that she could barely remember. Was it fear? She did not want him inside her again, violating her mind and waiting for the perfect moment to take her for himself.

"_I need you!"_

She would not let him possess her again.

"_I need you!"_

She would rather die than be possessed by him again.

"_I need you!"_

But she couldn't move.

"_I need you!"_

Why?

"_I need you!"_

Why!

There was a crash and a scrape.

Celeste opened her eyes to see the scarab still scurrying, but no longer moving. It was barely three feet from her knee, but the blade piercing through its back kept it in place. The blade belonged to a sword, a katana of beautiful craftsmanship and design. The blond warrior was holding it. He looked down upon the golden amulet with cold, merciless eyes before muttering a word in a language she didn't understand.

"_Hien!"_

A light seemed to encompass the blade, blue in colour and flaring like an unnatural fire. Thin, miniscule cracks appeared along the amulets mass, and a moment later the amulet burst apart. There was an explosion of blinding light as the spirit of Karness Murr was released, and a long wail of anguish as the Sith Lord finally crossed over from the land of the living to whatever hell awaited him on the other side.

Celeste could do nothing more than stare at the small scar on the concrete where the amulet had been, numb and waiting for the voice to return to her. Only it didn't. She waited, faintly aware that the blond haired man had risen to his feet and sheathed his katana in a smooth stroke. She waited and waited but there was no cackling, mocking voice. No evil presence wrestling for control of her mind every waking moment.

There was just silence.

Suddenly she felt numb and exhausted. She couldn't feel her arms and legs, she was barely aware of her own heartbeat. Her vision was becoming blurry and her eyelids almost desperately heavy. It felt like her body was shutting down. That had to be it. The only reason she hadn't suffered from the after effects of such a long cryosleep was because of the dark power of the talisman. Now that it was gone there was nothing to keep her body going.

It looked like what that old scientist had said was true on all but one point. Her being alive was no miracle. As darkness took her she idly wondered where he had vanished too, maybe he ran away in terror, force knows she had been thinking about it. She fell forward, and collided with a warm body, with the last of her strength the fading Jedi looked up to see her in the arms of the stranger.

He spoke, but his words didn't reach her. It looked like her hearing had failed on her as well. The Jedi wondered if she was going to die like this before finally succumbing to her exhaustion and passing into unconsciousness.

* * *

Gently Naruto set her down, a frown on his features as he looked her over. The woman had seemed perfectly fine until that strange talisman had disconnected from around her neck, well fine was a little off in his opinion. She looked a step away from going completely insane, but she at least had control of her motor functions.

The second the talisman had disconnected she had become as still as a statue, and while the spirit possessing the artefact had attempted to possess him her eyes seemed to dim and her breathing became more laboured. It reminded him of Shinobi who had passed their limits, took soldier pills and fought until they wore off. No, it was exactly what it looked like. The power of the spirit seemed to have not only forced her body to work past her limits but also kept her alive as well.

This was just an unfounded opinion though. He needed someone like Sakura when it came to medical matters. Just thinking about it made his head hurt a little, though that could probably be blamed on the artefact which had tried to take him over. He only remembered bits and pieces of the whole ordeal.

The attempt by Murr had dredged up some old memories, some he cherished, others he just wanted to remain buried. The sorrow and pain of seeing all of his friends, family and girlfriend die was still there, bottled up, and he refused to face it. Naruto realised what a hypocrite he was, nudging Aayla to face her pain head on when he was still so busy running from his own. That was all he seemed to do since he came here, run away.

Naruto took a deep breath, dispelling his headache and the memories for the time being before deciding to check the woman over.

What would Sakura do?

Pulse, check her pulse.

He did so, taking her right wrist and jabbing his thumb into the area where her pulse would be. He felt it, though he frowned at how slow it appeared to be. Maybe he was wrong. He pressed the side of his head against her chest, listening and feeling for her heartbeat. There it was. The heartbeat was there, a continuous thump in his ears, but it was weak and getting weaker. Her breathing was becoming shallow as well as laboured.

Her body was shutting down.

Never let it be said that Naruto Uzumaki was a person who would leave someone in need. He gently scooped her up in his arms, amazed at how light she was even with the armoured suit she was wearing. Maybe armoured was a bit of an exaggeration, considering it left her stomach bare.

She may have attacked him, but she was being possessed at the time, or pseudo-possessed at the time, and Aayla would probably sock him one if he left her with the unconscious and soon to be awake and very angry Sith Lord.

Why was he making excuses?

Aayla

What was he going to do about Aayla

Was he falling for her?

He shook his head, realising what a stupid question it was. The sixteen year old who was dense as a rock when it came to women was long gone. Off course he was falling for her. She was one of his new precious people, and he knew that if the situation came he would die for her in an instant. That was how precious she was to him, and he wouldn't let her die, no one he loved would ever die in front of him ever again.

Not ever.

He rushed through the main entrance of the old observatory, idly noticing the old man in the strange suit cowering behind a corner, and continued on to the rendezvous point with Aayla and Dass. The shuttle wasn't far away now.

* * *

Aayla sighed in relief when she saw him running right towards the landing ramp. The strange Jedi girl held in his arms. The Jedi turned her head and raised her voice. "He's coming, power up the engines!"

Dass didn't reply, but sure enough the hum of the shuttles atmospheric thrusters came to life. Naruto was already at the foot of the landing ramp and climbed it with relative ease. He gave her a small smile which she returned, before bringing her attention to the woman in his arms.

"Does this thing have a medical bay?"

"Yes it does, if the layout hasn't changed." Aayla replied as she hit the button which brought up the landing ramp. "Why?"

"Because I think she's dying."

Aayla looked at the woman and noticed that she didn't look well, at all. Her skin had become almost deathly pale, breathing was shallow and laboured and she could feel her signature weakening in the force. They needed to hurry. She bid Naruto to follow her before shouting up the main corridor to their pilot. "Das,s get us the hell out of here!"

There was a sudden shudder as the Jedi pilot raised the shuttle into a hover, and then the ship was off. The compensators keeping their balance relatively steady as they zoomed past the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere within the time span of a few seconds. Then they reached orbit, and all aboard could hear and feel the main subspace engines come online.

"Keep us on the night side of the planet Dass," Aayla called as she hit a button on a keypad, a glass door opened revealing the familiar white walls of an infirmary. "I want to be as far away from them as possible before they see us."

"Will do," Jennir shouted back.

By the time Naruto entered the infirmary with his unconscious passenger Aayla was already tapping commands into a hologram of a keyboard. "Place her on the table would you."

The table didn't look all that inviting, a slab of steel which reminded Naruto more of a torture chambers utensil than something that could be found in a medical wing. But he conceded and placed her on the table, as carefully as possible. He backed up and watched as a medical droid of some description was activated, most likely by Aayla tinkering with the console.

There was a sudden explosion which made the ship shudder violently, nearly throwing Aayla and Naruto off their feet. Jennir's voice echoed through the main corridor. "They found us. I could use some help up here!"

Naruto and Aayla looked at each other for a moment before the woman of the duo sighed. "Go, I'll take care of this."

Naruto nodded his head and spun on his heel, exiting the medical wing and running up the corridor towards what he hoped was the cockpit. It was to his great joy, and Jennir looked up as he jumped into what he assumed was the co-pilots chair and strapped himself in place. "Please don't tell me it's that Star Destroyer thingy."

Jennit gave him a weird look before shaking his head, apparently remembering who he was talking too. "Luckily no, it's just a scout squadron, a single fighter, but others will be coming soon."

To accent his point there was another small explosion and another shudder which made everything not bolted down clatter. The winged silhouette of an ARC-170 flew by the cockpit, so close that Naruto could make out the pilots white helmet. He remembered Aayla talk about them, apparently the beginning of a new generation of starfighter.

"Well that isn't good."

"No, no it isn't." Jennir replied, himself just starring at the thing.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"You can fly right?"

"Aayla and Crys but me through some hours in the simulator," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"How did that go?"

"I crashed," Naruto replied guiltily.

"How many times did you crash?"

"A few." He answered with a guilty little smile, "Five times."

"Where's Aayla when you need her." Dass groaned as he jerked the flight stick, bringing the _Theta-class _shuttle into a hard right, just missing the worst end of a laser barrage from the passing ARC-170. They apparently had orders to disable and not destroy the craft. They would all be dead otherwise. "Can you pilot this thing?"

"I don't know," Naruto replied as he began hitting buttons with speed, bringing out his own control stick and transferring the flight controls to his side of the cockpit. He was grinning like a madman as he took the controls. "Let's find out."

He brought the shuttle into a tight descent which was definitely not recommended in its specs, missing a barrage of weapons fire from the starfighter before putting her into a mess of turns, jinks and evasive manoeuvres. Dass unbuckled himself from his chair and made his way over to the hyperdrive control monitor, nearly losing his balance when a blast of laser fire slammed against the shields of the transport.

"Dass!"

"Yeah," the Jedi replied as he began inputting coordinates into the console.

"I may have exaggerated the number of times I crashed my simulator."

The Jedi felt himself go pale, but continued to slam commands into the computer. The scanners were telling him that the rest of the squadron would be there soon, throwing the number of foes up from one to nine, and then escape would be impossible. "How many times did you crash, Naruto?"

There was a sudden loss of gravity and Dass had to grab onto a handrail to stop him from colliding with the ceiling of the cockpit. He looked over at the view-screen in time to see the stars spin. Did he just do a barrel roll? That was not recommended for a vessel like this.

"I broke the simulator Dass!"

"Naruto,"

"Yes?"

"Please, stop talking." He continued to input commands for a suitable course into the console, trying to not think that he had just gave the pilots chair to a man who broke the simulator. How could you break a simulator? He took a deep meditative breath before continuing to input commands into the computer. He was almost there. He got it, now all he had to do was get the ship lined up.

He rushed to the chair and jumped in, strapping himself into place. "Naruto, transfer controls to me."

"Sure," the blond replied. "You better hurry though. The rest of those assholes will be on us in a few seconds."

Dass grabbed the controls and pulled on the wheel, hard, bringing the shuttle up by thirty degrees, setting them up perfectly with his typed in hyperspace coordinates. He kept it there for a few seconds, well aware of the enemy squadron bearing down upon them. There was an alarm which signalled a target lock, someone had fired a proton torpedo.

"Ready," he called; looking over to see with relief that Naruto had his hand on the hyperdrive lever. "Punch it!"

He did, pushing it forward, and the stars became lines as they went into hyperspace. Jennir remained tense for a moment, waiting for an explosion, before sighing in relief and relaxing into his chair. Naruto seemed to do the same. They were like that for a while, just basking in the sweet moment of escape and survival.

"So," Dass said at last, gaining the blonds attention. "How the hell did you break your simulator?"

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Authors Alert 2: **__Once again I apologise for it taking so long, but I have had an epiphany. The reason why I have been having writers block lately is because I have not been getting any exercise, and too much coca cola (It does something with my brain for some reason.) I have cut back on the coke, joined a gym, started walking and started drinking beer. It appears to be dragging my muse back, kicking and screaming I hope. The Ancient Evil piece of the story is done, and thank god because it was giving me a severe case of writers block._

_**Author's Alert 3: **__I either thank or curse the existence of inuboy86 for continually pressing me on the update for this story. Just thought I should throw that out there. Three cheers for inuboy86, the bane of my existence lol._


	12. Reunion & Calling

_**Chapter 11**_

_**Reunion & Calling**_

"Rise my friend."

The voice was the same, always the same. Even here, so many hundreds of light-years from his current position the voice remained the same. To any ignorant observer who heard this voice they may consider it the one of a kindly old man, or perhaps a grandfather figure, a sweet, soft voice which was calm and benevolent.

Lord Vader, of course, knew better. The kind and gentle old man was just a facade, an act to lead his allies and enemies into a sense of security. That was how Dantius Palpatine was able to ascend through the ranks of the ineffective bureaucracy of the Galactic Republic to become Senator of Naboo and then Supreme Chancellor of the million world strong Galactic Republic. That was how he had gained so many executive and emergency powers when the Clone Wars broke out. His grandfatherly facade hid a devious and brilliant mind, one which was continuously working, who trusted no one and saw everyone as a pawn which would be eliminated once its purpose had been served.

At least now his face mirrored his dark intentions.

There were only a handful of people who knew the truth, that he had orchestrated so much in order to gain his dream, a dream which all Sith had had before him. The dream of conquering the galaxy and bringing it under the rule of the Sith. He had just taken a more roundabout approach than his predecessors, an approach which had been in planning for almost a millennium. He already had the majority of the senate under his thumb, either through bribes, blackmailing or even eliminating those he could no control over and replacing them with susceptible puppets that he could easily control.

As Darth Sidious he had rallied the equally corrupt Separatists. He removed potential enemies who could hinder his plan, replacing the heads of the major corporations who backed the Confederacy with their private armies with weak minded and easily manipulated puppets. The Trade Federation, the Techno Union, the Banking clans, unhappy planetary governments, independence movements, far-right radicals, all were chess pieces in his game.

And when their usefulness had run its course he made sure they were eliminated swiftly and without evidence. When he knew that he could create his orders millennia long dream of a galactic empire he manipulated the Jedi into acting against him, using him and his weaknesses as the catalyst to begin it all. When the Jedi were eliminated and vilified as traitors he turned his sights on the Separatists, removing them.

Vader had done so willingly. He had betrayed the order he had become a part of, allowed his friends to be butchered and even took part in the massacre, and it was a massacre.

The Jedi never knew what hit them.

The majority weren't even aware of the High Councils move against Sidious. By the time they knew what had happened the Clones were already there, killing indiscriminately. Across the galaxy clones gunned down their Jedi commanders and generals. Years of fighting alongside them, eating, laughing and sparring with them had done nothing more than made the clones want to end their lives as quickly and with as little pain as possible.

Most probably never saw it coming.

And Vader allowed it, for the person he loved who he had killed with his own hands.

Looking back he would have changed that. If he were given one more chance he would have killed Sidious in that room, when he stood before him and proclaimed that he was the Sith Lord. For all Vader knew it was him who had implanted those dreams into his mind. It was too late now. He had set himself on a course which he would take.

He had chosen this path, and he would see it through.

"_No," she shouted as she lashed out again and again, frustration growing as he keenly intercepted every slash and strike. "You can't be him. The Anakin Skywalker I knew was kind, smart and brave, willing to put his life on the line for a friend in need. You aren't him!"_

"_And how do you know him, the real him?"_

"_I fought beside him, when you fight beside a person you get to know him very well," she replied bitingly as she continued her relentless assault. "The Anakin Skywalker I remember wasn't a coward who went to a madman for power, he wasn't a man who stabbed friends in the back and he wasn't a murderer of children incapable of defending themselves!"_

He squashed down his guilt and hid it away. Seeing one of his friends of his former life had been more difficult that he had originally thought. She hadn't aged a day either. How long had it been since he had seen her, six months or perhaps a year?

"_You were my brother Anakin. I loved you!"_

Obi-Wan's voice rang through his ears and Vader suppressed a snarl. He took that little piece that was still Anakin Skywalker and locked it away before looking up to face the holographic image of his new master.

He was a Sith now, the second of this man and the man who would eventually kill him.

That was enough for now.

"I sensed a great disturbance in the force." Palpatine said simply, his wrinkled scarred visage the same as it ever was, "A great power which sent shockwaves through the force."

"Yes my master." Vader replied with a visible nod. He was not surprised Sidious already knew something was wrong, his ability to see the force made him aware of many instances across the galaxy before even the best of the newly reformed Imperial Intelligence could confirm it. "A new threat has appeared, a young man who has powers beyond what I have ever seen."

"Hmm, intriguing," The newly appointed Emperor seemed to be in deep contemplation. "He is strong in the force. His very presence is sending ripple effects across time and space. Such strength could make him a powerful ally, or a powerful enemy."

"Yes my master."

"You have faced him, yes?"

"I have."

"And he lives?"

_A flash of motion too fast for the eye to see was the only warning the Dark Lord received before he reappeared, well within his defences, an orb of electric blue energy formed on his outstretched palm and slamming into Vaders abdomen with incredible force. He felt armour crack and a great sharp pain before he was thrown back, roaring in surprise and agony as he spun out of control across the chamber and slammed into the wall at the other side, leaving a crater in the concrete before slumping to the ground._

_As soon as the change came it went._

"_Sorry, but like I said I'm in a hurry."_

"Yes, my master."

"A powerful force indeed," Sidious was once again thoughtful before speaking again. "If he eluded you then he must be a warrior of some regard. What were you able to see with your eyes, Lord Vader?"

"A man," Vader replied, looking up at his master with an unflinching gaze. "A man, who was capable of wielding a sword with skill and grace, could create clones of himself, manipulate the elements to his will and even make the force tangible."

Sidious looked mildly uncertain by his statement, frowning openly. "Tangible, you say?"

"Yes my lord. I saw him create a sphere of pure energy with his hand, and it was capable of breaking my armour." He brushed his draped black cloak aside, showing the condition of his cratered and cracked black armour. "He is a force to be reckoned with, but I sense that he can be manipulated with the proper application."

"There is darkness in him." Sidious said simply and Vader bowed in affirmative to the Emperors statement.

"I am unsure of where it originated, but there is darkness." Vader was not as gifted with seeing the darkness within a being, though he almost instinctually knew it by reflex. "It felt like darkness born from suffering and great emotional pain, a sudden and tremendous loss. I also felt emptiness within him, the same emptiness which is common once ones need for vengeance has been sated."

"He is a warrior then."

"Yes my master." Vader paused for a moment before continuing. He would remain quiet about the Murr Talisman and his failure to retrieve it, though he had doubts if the Emperor was oblivious to his efforts. "He escaped in the company of three Jedi knights, two women and a man."

The Emperors brow creased. "So he is in the company of Jedi survivors?"

"Yes, my master."

"If he joins them he could become a dangerous enemy."

"But if he could be turned, he would make a powerful ally."

"Yes," Sidious said softly. "His past pain could be used to sway him to our cause. All we need is a catalyst. Tell me, do you know of his name?"

"Naruto," Vader answered. "Naruto Uzumaki."

"And the Jedi," Sidious continued. "Do you know any of them?"

"Only one," the dark lord replied. "Aayla Secura."

* * *

"Will she be alright?"

The three of them were in the medical bay, looking down at the form lying on the bed, breather mask in place and cables puncturing her arms, hooked up to the mobile life support unit on the back wall. Her breathing was still shallow, but it was no longer laboured and the continuous beep of her heart on the monitor made them aware that her pulse had at least stabilised. Aayla had also changed her clothes, and placed her in a white gown.

"It's difficult to say," Aayla replied to the Jedi Masters question, looking over the continuous stream of information from her handheld datapad. "All that I can tell you is that right now she is stable, but she is also suffering from acute hibernation sickness, if what you said was accurate and she could barely move."

"It was," Naruto replied, leaning against the door frame to the medical centre, looking a little uncomfortable in the white walled room. His attempt to look aloof and uncaring didn't help. "The moment the talisman removed itself from her neck she was unable to move, and she later collapsed. I was unsure if she could even see or hear me."

"That sounds about right." Aayla nodded to herself. "The usual symptoms of hibernation sickness are stiff muscles, numbness, loss of hearing and sight and muscle weakness. It's just a theory but if we're right and she's been in suspended animation for millennia then the effects would be considerably more severe, without the talisman she would have probably died."

"So when the Sith spirit split from her it triggered a relapse." Jennir muttered thoughtfully. "Her body took the full on effects of the sickness. If Naruto wasn't able to get her to a medical centre then she would have probably completely lost her senses of sight and hearing, as well as severe muscle deterioration and stiffness."

"Sounds bad,"

"That's an understatement." Aayla chastised lightly. "It's a good thing that this ship has an onboard Bacta tank, or I wouldn't have been able to save her."

"Who is she anyway?" Jennir asked.

"Someone from a very long time ago," Naruto replied as he looked her over. She still looked awfully pale. "Maybe she'll be able to tell us when she wakes up, if she wakes up."

"It's not our most pressing concern at the moment." Aayla sighed before looking at her superior. "Will they be able to follow us?"

"I made an additional two hyperspace jumps after we escaped, and the tracking system has been disabled."

"Did you ever hear of an off-switch?" Naruto asked.

Jennir shrugged. "The lightsaber was more permanent."

"And flashy," the blond pointed out.

"We still need to get off of this ship though," Aayla cut in before someone started an argument. "This is still an Imperil military vessel with an Imperial transponder code. It will be very dangerous for us to continue using it unless someone knows of a place where it can be changed."

"What about your contacts?" Naruto inquired. "Not like I know much about jacking an Imperial transport, but shouldn't you have contacts with the criminal element from your time as an undercover operative?"

"I do," Aayla replied. "But I wouldn't trust any of them with a Republic credit let alone a whole ship. There is a bounty of both me and Jennir's head, and you might get one after this."

"A bounty," Naruto pondered before smiling widely. "Cool."

"It's not cool," Aayla chastised mildly, giving him a look. "It means that you will be a wanted felon, bounty hunters will start coming after you as well as many other things."

"You're a wanted felon, so by sticking with you I would have become a wanted man sooner or later," the blond pointed out. He raised his hands in surrender when Aayla leaned forward with a look. He knew that look, and he knew he would never win against her in a verbal argument when she had that look.

"Idiot," she breathed.

"In any case," Jennir interrupted. "We're on our own now. The _Uhumele _and her crew are long gone, and I don't know where they'll be going."

"Yeah, about that." Both Dass and Aayla looked at Naruto, who fished into the right inside pocket of his coat and took out a folded scrap of paper. "Will this help?"

Jennir took the paper and opened it, looking over scribbled handwriting which had to be from Ratty or Crys when she was in a hurry. It was a line of numbers and letters, and he knew within a second of reading them that they were hyperspace coordinates. Aayla looked over his shoulder, knowing exactly what it was within a second of reading the mess.

"Crys gave me that before I left," Naruto stated, placing his hands behind his head as he leaned against the bulkhead. "Exact words were 'Lose this and I will kill you' or something like that. I'm guessing coordinate for a rendezvous with your girlfriend Jennir."

It took a moment for the statement to sink in, but when it did the Jedi Master sputtered. They were so easy to read, these Jedi, almost like they had never knew what falling in love with someone could do to the psyche of a normal being. Just being in Hinata's presence when he realised his feelings for her and her feelings for him was enough.

"She's not my girlfriend." He sputtered.

"Could have fooled me," Naruto replied as he turned around and left the ward. "Come on lover boy, let's get to these coordinates. Aayla, could you keep an eye on our comatose friend?"

"Leave her to me."

Naruto knew the feeling, though he didn't know it often, and he knew with growing fear and trepidation of one thing. He was starting to get those feeling when he was around Aayla, and it terrified him. As he walked to the cockpit he cursed Murr, and Vader, and even Morne even though he knew she didn't deserve it. The woman in the hospital bed was just another victim to an evil mans ambition. Sage knows he saw more than enough of them in his life. He cursed Murr and Vader for bringing the memories and pain back.

"_I love you."_

Her last words, he still flinched at the memory. He let her die, unable to do anything as he watched her eyes go dim and her breathing become shallow. Her life flowed from a deep wound in her stomach, bleeding away. All he could do was sob, and hold her in his arms, screaming for a medic that would never come as her life slowly ebbed away.

"I should have killed him," Naruto muttered in a breath so low that Dass wasn't able to hear him as he dialled the new coordinates into the computer. Naruto knew, he just knew that it was going to bite him in the ass later, but at the time saving the woman and escaping took top priority in his mind, and he was never one who relished in killing.

It had a double meaning though.

He should have killed Vader;

And he wished so much he could have killed Hinata's murderer.

Looking back he should have killed him in that valley, so long ago.

"We'll have to do a detour," Dass muttered as he continued to input data into the computer. "A star system is in the way."

Naruto took a deep breath and brutally slammed the memories down, locking them away in a box and throwing that into the darkness of his mind. He could always mourn later. That's what he always told himself.

He could always mourn later. Mourn for Hinata, mourn for the small fact that he wasn't able to dissect her killer. The bastard with the orange mask had relinquished him of that one small chance, just like he had done to so many others. Madara had killed his mother and father, he had begun a war that had killed so many of his friends, and then he had stolen his chance on revenge against the man who had killed the one woman who had understood and loved him as a man, not as a brother or the container of a monster, but as a man.

* * *

"It's been six hours Crys."

"They'll come."

"I know they will, but you need to get some rest."

Taanzer sighed, knowing that her Captain was only worried about her, but she was the best pilot on this ship, and if she even attempted to sleep she knew she wouldn't be able to. She was too worried for that, "Just another hour."

She didn't like Jedi.

She had always considered them as cold and emotionless sorcerers living in their ivory towers of Coruscant, plenty of people accused them as child kidnappers and outdated shamans. Ever since that day when they had taken her son she had felt resentment, and when she heard about the attempted coup the resentment turned to sorrow and anger.

Sorrow for her son;

Anger at them;

Then she met not one but two of them, and all of the anger seemed to die in her throat. They were just like her now. They were lost and confused, like their whole world was ripped apart and they were thrown into the void by an uncaring vindictive god. Everything they knew, and a lot of people they cared about were taken from them the moment the order had been given from the highest authority.

It must have seemed that they were abandoned.

Protecting the Galactic Republic for thousands of years from an innumerable amount of threats and they were abandoned just like that, in the blink of an eye, for a crime very few of them knew about or understood.

Did she dislike Jedi?

Dass taking over her spot, telling her that there might be a chance her son could be alive and offering to take her to their most sacred and secretive conclaves to find out.

Aayla trading her life for theirs, starring down the face of a true monster without fear or hesitation, having guy troubles with a certain blond haired idiot who seemed completely oblivious.

Did she hate the Jedi?

Probably

Did she hate Aayla and Dass?

Not a chance

She had nearly dossed off.

Crys shook her head violently, before slapping her cheeks with her hands and looking out through the cockpit view-screen. The alarm claxons kicked in first before there was a flash of light and an Imperial shuttle appeared before them, Crys almost went for the controls before a familiar voice blazed through the com-link.

"_Hey, is this thing on?"_

Crys sighed before grabbing the com, before her Captain, and clicking the on-button. "This is _Uhumele _to commandeered Imperial shuttle. We are on our way?"

* * *

The rain continued to fall, cascades of cold hard water which drenched the streets and anyone unlucky enough to be caught outdoors. The rain wasn't a surprise on the outer-rim world of Jabiim, in fact during this season it would hammer down nonstop, continuous and without end.

This place was once a Separatist stronghold, a planet whose government fell early on in the Clone wars. A lot of early units of the Grand Army had met their end in the stark mountains and tundra of this damned planet, a lot of Jedi had died here too but he supposed that was now mute. The Empire retook the world with ease, its revolutionary government barely put up a fight and the droid armies which garrisoned this planet had been deactivated.

Lieutenant CL-8976, designation Drag, looked up at the dark sky, watching as the rain slammed against his helms faceplate before looking back to his squad. The squadron leader nodded his head, and the clones obeyed, unlocking their blaster carbines and holding them at the ready. He spoke, certain that his voice did not carry beyond his helmet, rather he spoke through the built in comlink.

"This is Delta three to actual," he spoke in a clipped and to the point tone. "We are in position, all other squads sound off."

"Delta two here, we're in position."

"Delta one copies, in position and awaiting orders."

"Delta four, we're in position."

"Delta actual to all units, subject is on the move." The operator called into the unit microphone. "Moving south west, sector seven; think he's moving across the rooftops."

"Roger that Actual, Deltas, move out."

"Remember Deltas this guy has killed three full squads of regulars and another two units of military police. Do not underestimate him."

They knew this already, it was the reason they were now hunting him and not the regular clone forces or military police. The new garrison commander on Jabiim had specifically requested ARC Troopers to deal with this menace. They were unsure of the assailant's identity, but they speculated that it was a Jedi out for vengeance.

Drag led his unit of three clones down the main road, now deserted and looking at his helms tactical data made a sudden turn into a side alley, following the heat signature of their target. He brought up a map of the entire estate, watching the small blip which represented their quarry and the other four which represented the ARC teams. Delta two was closest, and would be right beside him in a moment.

Looks like Thrush was going to get him again, the Sergeant always did have the most unbelievable luck.

There was a moment of silence before Delta Actual spoke. "Delta two, your unit should be right on him."

"This is Delta two, there's no sign of him." Thrush responded over the transponder. "Deltas fan out and search the area, we need to _hck-_"

Static enveloped the com for a moment, and Drag felt himself quickening his step. There was a crackle and then a sharp noise. "Delta Actual this is Private Walt, Sergeant Thrush is dead. He's on the roof, fire! Force be damned he's a fast one. To all units we need reinforcements now!"

"You heard him, move!" Drag shouted and his team began running to the scene, well aware that the other two teams were also rushing to the position.

"Delta three, engaging!"

"Where is he, where the hell is he!"

"Force me, Charles is down!"

"There he is, open fire!"

"Delta one, engaging."

There was an explosion up ahead.

"Delta two is gone."

"What do you mean gone!" Drag shouted into his com.

"There was a stream of fire from the roof. It burnt the poor bastards to a crisp."

"Delta one he's right in the middle of you!"

"Where did he_-"_

"I don't believe it."

"One swing, one fucking sweep and he got them all."

"Delta three, where the hell are you!"

All he heard after that was blaster fire and cut off cries. Explosions could be heard in the distance, originating from the target area. Then there was silence, nothing but static reached his ears on the com, and when Actual attempted to contact someone nobody answered the hails. Then his team arrived on the scene, and it was a gruesome sight to behold.

The area was a playground. He could make out a swing set, a slide and other entertainment pieces. All twelve clones were dead, all of them. Some of them lay on the ground, knife like weapons pierced through their visors. At least two were burned to a crisp, armour blackened and steaming in the flickering light of the nearest street light. Four clones had been cut in two, blood, gore and organs splattered onto the dirt. It looked like someone got in the middle of their formation and killed them all with the sweep of a sharp weapon. Other bodies lay strewn about, some had no discernable marks on them, and others had obviously been cut by a sharp object. It was definitely not the wound of a lightsaber.

"Switch to night vision." He ordered with a calm voice, watching as his troopers nodded. He looked up to the flickering light, watching as his usual vision became the greens and blacks of night vision.

A crackle of static, "Delta three are you on the scene?"

"Affirmative."

"Are you the only ones with a pulse?"

"Affirmative." He managed in a croaking voice.

"By god,"

He caught movement at the side of his vision, but when he turned, carbine held to his shoulder in readiness there was nothing there. His clones fanned out around him, their own carbines held and at the ready. They waited for a moment, eyes scanning the area for anything. There was nothing, not a sign of movement.

Then it came, and it came running right at them. It was a man, head bowed, arms flailing behind him as he rushed right at them. Drag made out a head of messy black hair, pale skin, definitely human, and crimson eyes starring right at him with nothing but murder. He saw one of his men fire a spray from his carbine, and watched as his form just vanished the moment the blaster bolt hit him. There was nothing.

"What the hell."

"I hit him," Carter muttered, bewilderment in his tone. "I know I hit him."

"Eyes peeled boys," Drag stated, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Yes si-"

Drag looked over to see Carter lifted into the air, a hand burrowed through his chest and exiting through his back in a bloody mess. The attacker was the same man who had rushed them, and now that they were so close Drag could make him out. He was tall, with messy black hair, pale skin and crimson eyes as he had seen before. He wore a white shirt, opened all the way to his stomach to reveal no armour of any kind, a pair of black trousers, sandals on his feet and a purple bow tied around his waist, a sash maybe.

He spun around; falling on his knee and levelling his carbine fired a concentrated two second burst. He was already gone, and Carters body hadn't hit the ground before he had killed Brigs, taking his head off with a simple sweep of his sword, blood flew and spattered on the ground at considerable velocity. Coth fired at him, and Drag watched with fascination and growing fear as he blurred, each time missing the volleys of blaster fire before killing the last man on his team with a simple thrust of his katana, yes it was a katana, right through Coth's chest and his heart.

He pushed the body off the katana as if he were an annoyance, and with a simple flick of his wrist sent blood pooling onto the ground. Then he rushed forward, Drag jumped back, firing quick sprays from his carbine and watching as every shot he fired went through a mirage.

"What are you?"

He was right behind him.

"What in the hell are you!" Drag shouted as he spun.

"Death," was the only reply the Lieutenant got.

It was all over in a heartbeat, his head flew from his shoulders into the darkness from the most graceful slash anyone could ever see. The body remained standing for a second before falling to the ground in a heap, a spasm making it twitch every now and then. The man sighed, sent blood flying from his blade with a flick of his wrist and sheathed his katana in a smooth motion.

He was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving a park of bodies in his wake.

* * *

Aayla smiled a little tiredly as she watched Bomo, Crys and the Captain traverse the small tunnel between the airlocks of the _Uhumele _and the Imperial shuttle. The crew, people who she had begun to call friends in recent days all looked relieved to see that it was them, alive, unharmed and well.

"Sorry to worry you guys," she apologised as she took a few steps towards the crew. She was completed unprepared when Crys wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"You Jedi are real troublesome, you know that?" Crys asked with a relieved smile as she pulled away from the startled girl. "Welcome back, morons."

"Yes welcome back, all of you." Schurk-Heren said with a small smile. "It's a miracle that you three managed to escape."

"Not a miracle old man," Naruto replied with a smile. "I'm just that damn good."

"Well we believe you now." Bomo chuckled as he jumped up and gave Naruto a friendly punch in the gut.

"Ye of so little faith,"

"So what are we going to do now?" Dass asked, looking apologetically at everyone before pressing on. "The Empire will be coming after us."

"He is right," Schurk frowned. "We need to lay low for a while."

Crys frowned. "Didn't you disable the tracker?"

"I did," Jennir replied. "But there might be more."

"If there were they would be here by now." Bomo countered.

"Never the less I feel that we need to move." Schurk stated as he looked at each person in attendance.

"That we do," Naruto agreed as he folded his arms. "How's your medical bay?"

"Pretty good,"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because we have a casualty in our medical bay," Naruto answered.

"Who?"

"A millennia old Jedi who has lost everything,"

There was silence for a handful of moments before Schurk finally broke it with a frown. "Can you please explain that?"

"It's a long story." Naruto replied tiredly.

"We have time."

Naruto sighed again, but nodded. "Only once we place her in a bacta tank and we get moving as far away from here as possible. Can we sweep the ship for anymore trackers?"

"We can," the Captain replied. "But we may have to move elsewhere."

"Then let's do it." Dass interrupted. "This thing may be worth a few credits if we can find the right buyer."

"But before that we'll need to find someone who can change her transponder code," Aayla piped up.

"Agreed, even if we manage to take out any additional tracking devices any Imperial friendly operator could tell what she is with even a light scan. Her identification needs to be changed and that's means through an illegal source."

"It just so happens that I know someone who could-"

"No!"

The word came from everyone else in the room besides the captain. Naruto was the one who gave him a smile. "Aayla knows quite a few shady elements from her time as an undercover agent, so there will be no need."

"Naruto, are you forgetting what I said before?"

"That you wouldn't trust them with a credit let alone a starship?" he replied.

"Exactly," She huffed.

"Where are your contacts?" Crys asked.

"The Wheel," Aayla replied simply.

"You mean the space station in the Besh Gorgon star system?"

"The very same," she answered.

"Not quite the best place." Schurk muttered.

"But nowhere near the worst," Crys countered lightly. "It's considered independent ground, and with her defences it would take a full taskforce to subdue her, something the Empire would not be able to do considering the continued fighting in former Confederate systems. The best they could send to such a far our system was probably a small recon fleet."

"So it's the safest place to go?"

"Barring Hutt controlled planets yeah."

"Nar Shaddaa might be the best place to go."

"How come?" Naruto asked.

"It's a moon orbiting the Hutt home world of Nal Hutta," Aayla explained. "And although they are criminals the Hutt cartels hold so much power in the outer rim that the Republic had no choice but to bargain with them. It was said that with the word of the Hutt council half of the outer territories would explode into civil war, so I doubt the Empire would strike against them with the Separatists still active."

"That doesn't mean we would be safe though," Crys muttered with a frown. "The Hutt's are renowned for seeing money above lives. They'd sell their own mothers if it would get them ahead."

"Sounds promsing," Naruto muttered with very little enthusiasm.

"It's all we got."

"Then let's do it."

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author Alert 2: **__I would have posted on Sunday but a few friends from Uni had come down for a weekend so I had zero usage of my laptop. Sorry it took so long by the way. I hope you all enjoyed the update._


	13. Revelations

_**Chapter 12**_

_**Revelations**_

It had been a while since he had last visited this place, but nothing had changed. Why would it? It was still his mindscape and he was able to change it to whatever way he saw fit. He had thought about finding a way to change this place, a labyrinth of passageways surrounding a huge cage of steel bars got kind of old pretty quickly.

In the end he kept it the way it was, just an eternal labyrinth of passageways and corridors, some dry and others flooded, all leading to a central nerve which was the cage of the infamous and terrible Kyubi no Yoko. In many ways this mindset was a strong defence, anyone who attempted to infiltrate it would immediately have to navigate their way through an intricate design of tunnels and passages, Ino had called it an eternal nightmare when she tested his mental barriers.

Naruto knew exactly where he wanted to go, walking down the knee deep flooded passage with deliberate slowness, hands in his pockets and posture slouched as he made his way towards his destination. The fox was not his favourite companion by a long shot, and since the end of the war his visits could be counted by a hand.

This would be the third since then.

When the water had risen to knee deep he finally found himself walking into the chamber which housed the colossal monster. It was the same as it always had been. A huge chamber whose ceiling was so high it could not be seen. In front of him were the bars of a huge cage, bars of solid steel cut the room in half, and a slip of paper was in place of a lock, with the kanji for seal written prominently in black ink.

Naruto moved to the centre of the free half of the cavern, folded his arms, and waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

A pair of eyes opened immediately, vulpine eyes the colour of crimson and feral as a starving beast. Slowly the nine tailed fox moved into sight from the shadows, and he was a shadow of his former self. His fur was patchy and dirty, his once sinewy form was wrinkled and sagging and in some places he could have sworn that he could see bone, where the skin had completely rotted away.

The two looked at each other, sizing each other up for a battle long over.

Finally the creature sighed. _**"It has been some time since you've decided to visit, Naruto."**_

There was barely any fight in his voice anymore. It was the voice of a creature resigned to his fate, yet willing to use any advantage to return him to what he once was. The infamous Kyubi no Yoko was probably desperate and half mad by now. Their final battle so long ago had made the pecking order in his body crystal clear. He was first and foremost, Kyubi was a distant second.

"I have a question for you?"

"_**Hmm," **_it looked at him with glowing eyes. _**"And what might that be?"**_

Naruto scoffed lightly. "You know what the question is, so stop wasting my time."

"_**The little spirit who thought he could take what is mine?"**_

"My body is not yours." The low voice hid a will of iron steel.

"_**Watch yourself, boy," **_a little fire returned to the huge behemoths eyes. _**"One mistake is all that I will need."**_

"A mistake I won't give to you." Naruto replied without emotion, something which seemed to aggravate the beast, patches of fur rising in hackles. "Answer my question, what did Murr do?"

_**So that was the name of the fool."**_

"It was."

The Kyubi laughed, a dark, deep chuckle which made the surrounding chamber shake, bits of pieces of weak masonry falling. _**"Not much. I simply showed him where he would stand in the pecking order should he join this little charade. He didn't like it."**_

"Bullshit."

"_**Hmm?"**_

"Something else happened," Naruto replied, meeting the Kyubi's stare with a glare which would melt steel. "I felt it."

The demon seemed to think about it for a moment. _**"Oh that. That has been here for some time, your anger over the presence of the fool simply awakened him."**_

"Him?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"_**Your true self," **_

The words brought back memories, of the Waterfall of Truth so many years ago. When he had been forced to face his darker half and defeat him. It was the first and most important step in defeating the Kyubi, and it was one which he would never forget.

He remembered those eyes, mirror images of his own yet lacking the joy, the happiness, the life that made them his. They were the eyes of a dead man who knew nothing but hatred and malice, fear and pain, which had gone beyond the breaking point and wished nothing more than to return it to the world of reality, all of his darkest and most negative emotions given substance and form.

A presence which was now behind him

He turned, and his eyes widened at the sight. A single figure sat on a long backed chair of black stone, slouched with arms folded and a triumphant smirk on his face. He was a mirror image of him in form, hair colour, eye colour, skin colour, clothing, whisker marks and even his presence was the same. The smirk was out of place though, and the energy radiating off of him showed nothing more than scorn and hatred for everything around him.

He rose from the chair, shoved his hands into his pockets and smirked.

"_Hello brother," _he said as he took a step forward. "_It's been a while."_

Naruto regained his composure quickly, sighing as he too took a step forward. "I thought I got rid of you."

"_You did, but it was only temporary," _his dark half replied with a feral grin. _"As long as you have hatred and darkness in your heart I will strengthen. You defeated me at the Waterfall, but something happened which stopped me from disappearing."_

"And that would be?"

"_Pain my brother, so much pain,"_ Yami replied. _"The death of a sister in all but blood, of friends who saw what you contained but continued to stay with you, of teachers who remained with you through thick and thin and the loss of the one who you loved above all others. I was there since she died. It just took a single strong emotion to reawaken me."_

"Murr," Naruto growled the name like a curse. He would probably curse that name for the rest of his life.

The grin was all he needed to know.

"_**Humans," **_Kyubi growled mockingly from his cage. _**"So easily manipulated by emotion though, it is to be expected from such short life spans."**_

"_I should feel insulted by that," _his dark half smirked_. "But words spoken through prison bars lose their bite."_

"_**I could say the same to you, brat."**_

"_True, but I have a better chance at taking control than you, bastard fox."_

"_**How so?"**_

"_Well for one thing," _dark Naruto smirked, closing his eyes and opening them to show feral crimson eyes replacing the usual life filled azure._"I'm not stuck behind that seal and your power is mine as surely as it is his."_

The creature growled. A low sound which was truly ominous, reverberating through the darkened chamber, loose granite fell in small chunks, piercing the water and sending ripples in all directions, light fittings moved from side to side, some of the dim ones going out. Then the fox was silent, glaring at them through glowing vulpine eyes before turning around, his nine tails slamming into the knee deep water, sending it splashing through the bars and onto Naruto and his dark half. Both shook themselves to remove the water before looking back at the monster which was even now returning to the shadows of his cell.

"Now that was mature," Naruto muttered sarcastically, patting specks of dust from his shoulder.

"_What do you expect?" _his dark half asked.

"So how am I going to get rid of you again?" Azure and crimson eyes met and held, one unmoving and cold, the other a smouldering mass of malice with the intent to kill and destroy.

Separate sides of a coin.

That was what they always where.

What they always will be.

His dark half smirked, a truly eerie expression coming from his features. _"That's up to you, brother."_

"Not being very helpful."

He was already gone before Naruto finished the sentence, vanishing with a sudden gust of wind which echoed through the corridor and into the chamber. He looked at the empty space before returning his gaze to the bars holding his demon in place, noticing that he was definitely done talking to him as well.

Naruto sighed, hand raising the scratch the back of his head, "Flashy as ever, huh?"

It was time to leave this hell.

* * *

Naruto let out a long sigh as he came out of the trance and found himself once again in his room aboard the _Uhumele_, the one he shared with Bomo and his daughter. The door was open and light poured in from the common room in the centre of the transport.

The meditation techniques Aayla taught him really were amazing, though for him clearing his mind to use them was like putting him through a long lecture. He was always someone who learned best by doing, always had been always would be. Kakashi thankfully caught onto that pretty quick.

"So you've finally picked it up?"

He looked over to see Aayla sitting on the bunk across from him. How she had gotten there without him noticing he will never now. Maybe he was getting rusty, or maybe what he had learned had left him so emotionally and spiritually drained that he just didn't notice her. Then again she was light on her feet, and she had learned how to make her chakra reserves so small that they were almost undetectable.

"It depends on my mood it seems." He replied at her with a grin.

She said nothing. Instead she fluently stood up and crossed the small space between them. She looked right into his eyes, and kissed him on the forehead. The movement made him go still the very moment her soft lips touched his skin.

She smiled a little nervously and her voice was soft, almost timid, when she spoke. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

It was all he could say, and in his mind he could swear his recently revived dark half was laughing at him. He cursed himself for it, that he couldn't say more, but at the moment with his mindset the way it was it was all he could say.

"How did you survive?" she asked.

"Bloodline limit."

She shook her head and smiled. "You told me about those, special abilities of certain clans and families."

"Yeah, my clan, the Uzumaki, had a sped up metabolism that granted us long life and the ability to heal from almost any wound not immediately or severely fatal in almost record time." Naruto allowed a nervous smile as he said it.

"You seemed distressed, during your meditation." Aayla's change in conversation was welcomed immensely, welcomed until his brain was able to process her words, then he felt a slight moment of panic.

That's when he noticed her expression. She seemed worried.

"Yeah, just a few memories I needed to sort out is all."

"Really," she looked right into his eyes.

He was about to respond, but then it hit him. She couldn't get any closer to him yet he didn't want to leave her side. He needed a friend more than anything right now. If he told her about the Kyubi no Yoko then what would happen? The idea filled him with as much dread as hope.

Would she accept him even with the knowledge of a homicidal monster sealed within him?

Could she even comprehend it?

He knew that if he told her he would be taking a considerable risk, but then again at this very moment there was no one else that he trusted more than her. She should know what she would be getting herself into by associating with him, and even if it didn't push her away entirely it would make her think twice about getting any closer.

"Aayla," never let it be said that Naruto was a man who acted before he thought. His plan to almost everything was simply to, as they say, wing it and hope for the best. "There's something I have to tell you."

She was listening, and Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat hard. He still felt fear every time he told somebody this. Before he could continue a shadow pierced through the light of the open door. Bomo was standing at the frame, clawed hands grabbing onto the sides and chest heaving. He had been running.

"Guy's, we need your help."

"What's the matter Bomo?" Aayla asked as she stood up, conversation put on hold.

Naruto was both annoyed and relieved by the interference.

"It's that girl you brought aboard." Bomo said, gaining control of his breathing. "She's awake."

"Then what's wrong?" Naruto asked with a frown, her being awake should be good news.

"She's gone crazy."

"How bad is it?"

"She threw Mezgraf across the medbay." Bomo said with all seriousness.

"That's pretty bad." Naruto stated simply as he and Aayla got to their feet in a flurry of movement. Mezgraf was by far the biggest sentient on the ship, being just over seven feet tall and weighing nearly three hundred pounds. Bomo was already moving to the airlock which connected the two ships. They were still in hyperspace, only using the _Uhumele's _considerable engines to travel while they kept the Imperial shuttle dark in all but basic systems including life support and the medical bay.

"No kidding."

* * *

She felt pain.

Great pain, like being pierced by thousands of needles in every part of your body, like the pins and needles feeling one would get when a limb or other part of your body regained feeling, only magnified a hundredfold. Unconsciously her hands gripped onto something hard, hard enough for her nails of scrape, though thankfully the fabric was soft, bed sheets or a quilt perhaps.

A blinding light was next, as the pain slowly dissipated to leave only numbness. She felt numb and despite the quilt which she now knew covered her form she also felt cold, so cold she could have been on the snow fields of Hoth or in deaths embrace.

Slowly Celeste Morne began to regain her senses.

Her hearing whistled sharply for a moment, causing her yet more pain, before she began to hear voices, like they were being spoken through a muffler at a distance.

Her eyesight was next, tunnel vision widening out, but they were still blurry.

Her mouth and throat felt like sandpaper, to the point that she was sure that it would tear if she tried to use her voice.

Her heart thundered in her ears, a continuous steady beat which threatened to burst her ear drums.

And her breathing, it was hard and heavy.

"_I need you!"_

She sat upright in the bed, screaming.

Hands grabbed onto her, holding her down.

She flailed and kicked and screamed.

Someone was thrown across the room and there was a thud of him or her smashing into the bulkhead.

The other was stronger, stronger than her even, and before long he had her pinned while others attempted to place restraints on her.

A force push, more out of reflex than thought, sent them all staggering back. It was weak but strong enough.

_The spirit stood before her sight, grinning. "Yes, you'll do nicely."_

Where was she?

Was she on a ship?

_Heavy breathing assaulted her ears. _

Where was the man in black?

_A dark figure brought his crimson blade slicing down._

Where were the soldiers in white?

"_Yes that's it, give in."_

Where was that man with blond hair?

Where was Murr?

Was he really gone?

Or was he waiting to play a cruel joke?

Where was she?

Where was she?

Where was she!

"_You will be mine, forever!"_

Hands grabbed her and she resisted, but she was so weak. She would barely be able to use a force push, and probably one so weak it would buy her nothing more than a second. She hit him, bringing her fists down upon a chest which would not yield. She felt like laughing at her futility. Her strikes were probably as weak as a new born kitten.

The hands grabbed her and before she knew it her head was pressed against a chest and another's heartbeat thundered in her ears, calm and steady. Celeste didn't know why but it soothed her. She was being embraced she realised, but who would do so?

"You're okay," a voice touched her ears. It was gravelly but it was also soft, soothing and spoken as if whoever it belonged to understood her pain. "He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore."

Tears formed in her eyes, and she wished that it wasn't a dream. If it was she would be content with the being before her uttering those two words one more time.

Just one more time.

"You're okay."

Before Celeste Morne knew it she was grabbing the man's tunic and digging her face into it, releasing torrential sobs which made her whole body heave and shiver. The more she sobbed the more she realised the gravity of his words, and as time moved by she became aware of something she should have been aware off from the moment she awoke.

Her mind;

It was silent.

There was no deceased Sith hounding her with threats or soft assurances that he would succeed.

She didn't feel his presence at all.

She was free.

The knowledge made her cry even more.

But it wasn't through pain and anguish this time.

No.

It was for joy.

He was gone.

He wasn't coming back.

Her torture was over.

Finally over

* * *

"She's out like a light."

The rest of the crew looked relieved that she was unconscious again, and he didn't blame them. Seeing someone mentally and physically break down like that was something that hit a person, really hit a person. Naruto had seen too much of it during the war, and it was never a pleasant sight.

"What did you do?" Crys asked.

"I gave her what she needed." Naruto replied, not even daring to move as she leaned heavily against him, "A shoulder to cry on."

"Will she be alright?"

Naruto sighed, noticing Aayla was right beside him, checking her pulse. "We won't know until she wakes up again."

"What happened to her?" Crys persisted.

"She broke down," it wasn't Naruto who said it, it was Bomo. "I've seen it before in front line soldiers who couldn't take it anymore."

"You're right," Mezgraf replied, leaning against the far bulkhead. "I've seen it before when I was a slave, fellow slaves who couldn't take it anymore and just broke down."

"But why did she?"

"Because she was being possessed Crys, by a Sith spirit." Dass said, eyes not leaving the young woman's still form. She had been removed from her dirty and tattered clothes and placed in a hospital gown. "Having another invade your mind like that puts a serious strain on the hosts psyche, and considering there hasn't been a reported case for nearly a millennia then that would mean that there were other factors involved as well."

"Like what, if I may ask?"

"She has been in that sarcophagus for millennia, maybe more, with that spirit and her continually wrestling for control of her mind. The spirit kept her alive long past the point where she should have. Cryo-sleep should not be used for so long, any normal person would have died or gone mad." Aayla said the words softly, almost as if she feared to wake the woman. "It would have been like an eternal nightmare that she could not awaken from."

"Everyone has a breaking point Crys," Naruto continued as he looked at her. "It doesn't matter how much training you've gained or how strong you are. Everyone has a breaking point, and she's reached hers."

"I see," the pilot's eyes now showed pity and perhaps a little understanding, after all she had been in that position once before. Naruto sighed as he scooped her up in his arms, marvelling at how light she was.

"I think we should move her somewhere more comfortable," he said as he looked to the crew with a tired smile. "I don't know about you but this is the last place I'd want to wake up in."

"Yeah, I never liked hospital rooms either," Bomo replied with a chuckle.

"She can have my room," Crys said as she moved back towards the exit.

"Then where will you sleep," Dass asked with a raised brow. "All the sofas have been taken."

"I'll sleep in the pilot's chair." Crys replied dismissively.

"But you haven't slept for nearly eighteen hours." Dass frowned as he followed her. "And those chairs are hard as hell."

"Then where else can I sleep," she asked irritably, voice echoing through the corridor as they had both left the medbay.

"You can have mine." He replied. "And I'll take the chair."

"Not a chance Jedi," she shot back. "I've seen you're flying, and I'd feel safer with me half asleep on the chair."

"For the last time, that wasn't me!"

"I've just noticed something," Schurk muttered as he too left. "It's getting very crowded on this ship."

"We may need to buy a bigger one boss," Vakier laughed as he followed.

"No kidding boss." Bomo groaned. "Where's my girl going to sleep tonight?"

"She can sleep with me Bomo, don't worry." Aayla replied as she followed him.

"I don't want to trouble you again, Aayla."

"It's no trouble."

Naruto chuckled lightly as he too moved out the door and towards the airlock, what a motley crew they had. Only together for a couple of months and they were already as close as any family, though from his experiences he wasn't sure what family was supposed to be like.

The woman's grip tightened on his arm.

"Don't worry," he knew it was stupid to speak to someone who was out cold, but he had a feeling that his words were reaching her, and he was right. She relaxed in his arms. "You're going to be alright."

* * *

The alarm system blared, rousing Dass Jennir from his slumber in an unceremonious manner. With a groan he slammed in hand on the button which turned it off, and sitting back in the hard pilots chair stretched and yawned.

Then it hit him as to where he was, and he was immediately wide awake, grabbing hold of the hyperdrive lever and slowly pulling it back, bringing the _Uhumele _out of hyperspace and into real-space. The stars realigned themselves into pinpricks, and the soft rise in g-force returned to normal with a sudden thrust.

Ahead of them were two planets, one a large M-class planet on the night side, lights of huge cities clearly visible. The other was different, for although it was on the night side of the planet it was lit up with thousands upon thousands of smaller lights, perhaps even millions of lights, making it look like the surface of the moon was nothing more than a large city.

The comlink blazed into life with a single voice smashing through the static, demanding to know their identification. He spoke in Hutteze. Jennir was about to reach out for the com when a slender hand beat him too it. Crys leaned over his shoulder, picked up the receiver and brought it to her mouth, speaking to the operator at the other end in fluent, of slightly accented Hutteze.

They had made it to the centre of outlawed space.

Here was where the fun began.

* * *

It was only a flicker.

That was what he felt.

It was a flicker of motion in the force so subtle that he nearly missed it.

He stopped and looked up at the sky above him, stars removed by the smouldering cloud cover and the thousands of lights all around him. He ignored the mass of people who circled him as they continued on with their daily lives. To them he was nothing more than a faceless human half hidden in a long black cloak.

It had been nearly six months since Order 66, but he still felt the horrific pain in his heart and soul as surely as when it happened, of thousands of lives, many of whom were friends and comrades, going silent in the vicinity of three to five minutes. He felt so many deaths that it had numbed him from head to toe, and he had almost joined them in death, but managed to escape death by mere millimetres.

Now the only thing that kept him going was the small band of fugitives he was now aligned with, which contained his master, one of his teachers, his wife and his young six month old child. They were the only family he had left, and they were the only ones he could trust. He tried to forget about the friends he lost, or the apprentice he was unable to save.

Her face still haunted him, that moment of Felucia before they went their separate ways.

It had felt so much like a goodbye.

Quinlan Vos sighed and shook his head, dispelling the now painful memory, before once again moving with the crowd all around him, continuing his way towards his makeshift hideout. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before Nar Shaadaa no longer became a safe haven. Bounty hunters would recognise him, and then the Empire would come down like a hammer, his supposed death would only convince them for so long.

There it was again, a flicker in the force, and he once again stopped, ignoring someone cursing at him in Hutteze.

That flicker in the force, was it a presence?

Yes, it was.

It was a presence he had not felt in some time.

It was so familiar.

Who was it?

A face appeared in his mind's eye.

It was impossible.

He was sure he had felt her death, mixed in with all the others.

But he recognised it.

"Aayla..."

* * *

It was a different ceiling this time.

Instead of a ceiling of blinding white it was a ceiling of metallic steel with a cable running across it. Instead of the room being lit by equally blinding lights it was almost completely dark save for the light permeating through the open door.

Slowly Celeste sat up, feeling a sharp pain in her joints and an equally sharp pain in her temple. She raised her hand to rub her forehead as she looked around, squinting in the low light as her eyes slowly regained focus. It looked like a small room, sleeping quarters of a small vessel, perhaps a freighter. There were two beds, as well as a shared bedside table, cupboards at the ends of each bed.

Where was she?

She heard sounds in the other room, people were talking quietly. She was immediately on alert, but after noticing a lack of people guarding her and no restraints placed on her person she decided to relax. Either they were complete novices or they weren't there to hurt or otherwise incarcerate her.

Celeste barely remembered anything after the Murr talisman removed itself from around her neck. All she had was flashes of images. Of the talisman grasping onto a blond mans neck, of the same accursed creation being torn to shreds by a glowing sword. Then she remembered brief flashes of her waking up in a Spartan room, and immediately fighting against restraining hands.

It all came flooding back to her then, and she hid her face in her hands as her mind laboured to take in all of the information from her awakening in that sarcophagus, to her being held in a strange mans arms, crying and being comforted that she was safe and that she was going to be alright.

Then it came back to her, perhaps the happiest news in her life.

Murr was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

The knowledge that it was true brought an inane sense of joy to her chest, warmth she had almost forgotten.

Hope, it was hope.

"Murr?"

There was no answer.

"Are you there?"

Better to be sure, right?

Silence, deafening comforting silence was all that awaited her as she waited, stark straight and ready for anything. No voices, no threats, no assurances of success or harsh, unmerciful laughter that threatened to pop her eardrums every single time, no feeling that something that was not her was wrestling for control of her mind.

All that she heard was just sweet, sweet silence.

A shadow fell upon the doorway, and a feminine, honeyed, sweetly accented voice spilled into her still sensitive ears. "You're awake."

Morne looked up to see a Twi'lek female, young, perhaps in her mid twenties. Her skin was an untainted cerulean, barely visible in the light, and she wore leather clothing which was at least a size too small for her. It was hard to tell thanks to the glare of the light behind her which showed little more than her silhouette, but Celeste saw something that both filled her with hope as well as dread.

A lightsaber was clipped to a utility belt, hung loose around her slender waist.

"What is that?" Celeste asked, forcibly swallowing a lump in her throat as she pointed to the weapon attached to the woman's belt. It was a simple answer, yet it had been proven that it showed which side a fellow force-wielder was on. "Is it a tool or a weapon?"

The woman looked down before looking back. Celeste could swear she was frowning. "It's a tool, to defend oneself when all other options have failed."

Celeste visibly relaxed before flashing a brief smile. "So you're a Jedi?"

The woman nodded, "Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight, and you are?"

"Celeste Morne," she answered, swivelling to the side of the bed and placing her bare feet on the cool floor of her temporary quarters. "Jedi Shadow."

"There's an old phrase," the woman, Aayla, muttered. "I haven't heard of a Jedi Shadow since the conclusion of the New Sith Wars."

"How long ago was that?"

"About eight hundred years ago." Secura answered. "You've been asleep for a long time, Knight Morne."

"So it would seem." She was about to say more, but another blur of images assaulted her mind, all of the man who had saved her life. "The man with blond hair, is he still here?"

"Naruto," the Twi'lek responded. "Yes, he's still here."

"I'd like to thank him."

"Sure thing, but I think we need to bring each other up to speed." Aayla said, leaning against the door frame. Celeste just realised that the earlier commotion beyond had gone silent, almost eerily silent. "There're a lot of questions we'd like to ask you, Celeste Morne, as I think you would like to ask us."

"What do you want to know?"

"Let's get some clothes on you first, then a cup of caff into your hands." Aayla said as she walked a few more steps into the room, offering her a slight smile. "After that we can talk."

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author's Alert 2: **__And another chapter is up and running, I was almost not going to add that last part in, but decided too at the last moment. It seemed better to place it here than in the next chapter. Not much action this chapter, and probably not much for the next either, they're plot chapters meant to get the story moving again after my near miss with the Murr Talisman Arc._

_**Author's Alert 3: **__I am also going to add that I have an examination resit set for the 23__rd__ of August, so I will not be able to update for a little while, well I might, but just giving you all a heads up. This is a majorly important exam for me. Literally it will get me my diploma or make my last four years of University come to nothing._

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter!_


	14. The Smugglers Moon

_**Chapter 13**_

_**The Smugglers Moon**_

She still looked pale, Naruto realised, and frail. He wasn't surprised, but a spark of life and sanity had returned to her once panicked dark eyes. She was sitting on the main sofa, dressed in a baggy gray short sleeved shirt and matching tracksuit pants. Her feet were bare and a cup of steaming caf was sitting on the worn table in front of her.

The crew was mostly here. There was nothing else to do considering they were awaiting clearance to land on the planet. Aayla was seated beside Celeste, a show of support for her, Dass was leaning against the bulkhead near the corridor to the cockpit, listening to the conversation but also ready to answer any hails. The rest of the crew were taking seats on the other two sofas. The Captain had taken the centre seat of the sofa across from the newcomer, Bomo sitting to his right and Crys to his left, little Resa was sitting in her father's lap, looking at Celeste with nothing but curiosity. Valkier and Mezgraf were sitting on the other sofa, with Ratty looking tiny between the Blood Carver and the Togorian.

Naruto didn't sit, considering there was nowhere left to sit. He walked over and sat on the armrest next to Crys, who flashed him a small smile before returning her attention to the Jedi Shadow, whatever that was.

"Is everyone here?" Schurk asked, looking around to do a silent headcount. Everyone nodded, and after a moment the Captain brought his attention back to the woman. "I know you must be tired, so we'll try and make this quick."

"Its fine," Morne replied as she sat up, still looking tired but determined. "I will answer whatever questions I can."

"Very good," Schurk nodded before turning to Dass by the door. "Considering our Jedi friends may know more than we do we'll let them take over the conversation."

Dass nodded before straightening and walking a few steps into the room. "We know that you've been in that sarcophagus for a while. Can you tell us of any major events which were taking place before your imprisonment, anything at all?"

"There was the Mandalorian Wars."

The Jedi Masters eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes,"

"What is it?" Schurk asked.

"The Mandalorian Wars was a series of conflicts fought between the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders and the Galactic Republic." Aayla replied, slightly startled by the information. "Are you absolutely positive?"

The Jedi Shadow looked slightly worried by their surprise, "Yes, why?"

"Because those wars were fought nearly four thousand years ago," Dass answered for her, gaining a few surprised looks from those present. "It was a period which was well recorded in our archives, not just by the Republics slowness to react but also a schism between those who wanted to fight and those who advised caution in the order."

"Jennir," Crys hissed warningly, bringing the Jedi Masters attention back to the present. Celeste's face had gone paler than before, eyes were wide in horror and disbelief at what she had heard.

"Four thousand years," she said the words slowly and wistfully as she fell back against her seat, looking even more lost and confused than before. "I figured I was in there for a while but, four thousand years. I thought Murr was just messing with me."

Dass knew his folly. "I apologise, maybe I said too much."

"No, it's okay. I was going to learn this sooner or later anyway." Celeste waved him off with a wan smile, before she brought her eyes to the floor. "So everyone's really gone, huh? Zane was unable to keep his promise."

For a time there was silence, Aayla placing a comforting hand on the millennia old Jedi's shoulder while the others were slowly digesting the information.

Finally Crys spoke. "Who is this Zane?"

Celeste smiled sadly, picking up the cup with both hands, "A young apprentice who promised to save me, Zane Carrick, who was wrongly accused of a terrible crime. Did anyone ever hear about the Padawan Massacre of Taris."

"There were a few records," Dass frowned as he tried to remember. "Four apprentices were killed by their masters because they had visions that one of them would become the next Sith Lord. One apprentice survived. The masters tried to accuse him of the murders, but in the end the truth was made clear."

"Zane was the survivor," Celeste added with a smile, taking a sip of the hot drink before speaking again. "So he proved his innocence, good for him."

"How did you know him?"

"I was an agent of the Watchers Council at the time." She answered. "That was the name of those five masters. They were known as a council of seers, the best of the era apparently. I was loaned to them by the High Council to track Zane down. However one thing led to another and we gained evidence that he had been wrongly accused, and that one of the Masters was dabbling in dark side artefacts. That was how the Murr Talisman was placed on me. It was originally going for Zane, but I pried it off of him and it implanted itself onto me."

"Know I remember," Dass said suddenly. "Your name did come up on the records, an agent sent by the council who took his side. You were put down as deceased. They came to the conclusion that the hibernation chamber they placed you into was destroyed by the collapse of the mountain."

"A mountain fell on me?" She asked before breaking out into a dry laugh. "That explains why he didn't come back. If I were in his position I'd think I'd be dead too."

"Wait wait," Bomo piped up for the first time. "How did she survive that?"

"Say what you want about the Sith, but they built stuff to last." Dass answered. "I know of Sith artefacts which dated back to their first empire which still worked. Now what is a Jedi Shadow?"

Celeste gave him a look. "You don't have Jedi Shadows in this time?"

"No, we don't." Dass answered as he folded his arms. "Not for nearly a thousand years."

"Jedi Shadows were Knights of the Sentinel class, specially trained in stealth and close range fighting," Celeste explained. "We were originally set up to hunt down Sith artefacts and destroy any which could pose a threat, mainly holocrons and equipment created by their alchemy or imbued with the dark side of the force. When I was a shadow there was talk about turning us into spies and intelligence agents."

"So you were basically the Jedi Orders version of intelligence operatives, a homeland security agency." Schurk asked, Crys and Bomo were frowning at the thought.

"More or less," Celeste shrugged. "Although during my time the changes were just rumour."

"Well they became reality near the end of the war," Dass said. "You're explanation of what a Shadow is coincides with what our archives say."

"So is it my turn to ask questions?" Celeste asked wryly.

"Go ahead."

"What happened," she asked with a frown. "How did the Jedi and the Republic fall to the Sith?"

"It's a long story." Dass said after a moment of silence.

"We have time," she replied firmly.

"Okay, there was a war... a civil war." Jennir began as he once again leaned against the bulkhead. "Most of what I am about to tell you is mainly speculation, but from what happened we may not be far from the truth."

Celeste was not the only one who was listening, Naruto, listening passively the whole time, was now listening with rapt attention. It was time he learned more about what happened, and how Aayla and Dass were now fugitives. Aayla had told him of a war, and a takeover, but even she admitted that this was mostly speculation. Whatever the High Council was planning was not shared with the majority of the Order.

"After the last war we had thought that the Sith had been annihilated. We hadn't heard from them in nearly millennia so we assumed we were right." Dass began, aware that the eyes of everyone were on him. "When the Separatists began building strength we still had no idea that the Sith were behind it until the blockade of Naboo by an organisation called the Trade Federation."

"There was a civil war," Celeste frowned. "Why would there be a need for one, membership with the Republic is purely democratic, a member can leave at any time. That's what it was like in my day anyway."

"That was once the truth," Dass said. "But over time the Republic became increasingly more ineffective and corrupt, bureaucracy began to dominate all levels of government, and a series of weak willed Chancellors led to a split in the senate between those who wished for reformation and those who wished to keep the bureaucracy in control."

"Why didn't the Jedi become involved," Celeste asked with a frown.

Crys frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It was one of the original terms of the Galactic Constitution that if the government became ineffective the Jedi would be able to dissolve the senate and declare new elections." Celeste answered. "That was one of the main roles of the Jedi Order. We were brought into the Republic as peacekeepers, mediators and with emergency powers to dissolve an ineffective government."

"She tells the truth Crys," Aayla piped up as the pilots frown deepened. "It was that way until the Ruusan Reformation. Our rights to dissolve a government were revoked, as were a number of our emergency powers."

"Force preserve me," Celeste had her face in her hands. "So our main role in the Republic was revoked, what in the name in all that is holy happened?"

"The New Sith Wars happened," Dass rebuked mildly. "A new Sith Order emerged, this time created through another schism in the Jedi Order. In a matter of months they had almost eliminated the higher echelons of the Republic, and the Jedi were forced to take on the roles of government. There were a string of Jedi Chancellors until the war's end, and when the Sith were finally destroyed the newly elected Senate passed a number of post-war laws, including the removal of the majority of our special powers, bringing us down to simple peacekeepers and diplomats."

"What about the army then, the navy?"

"Almost nonexistent," Dass replied, seeing the woman's face go paler and paler. "There hasn't been a major war in almost eight hundred years, so the army and navy were reduced before being completely dissolved around three centuries ago."

"So our main roles were revoked, including our basic mandates, and our armed forces were made nonexistent." Celeste laughed without mirth. "No wonder the Republic became as you say. There was no one to keep order. You mean to tell me that the Republic had no wider military beyond planetary defence forces?"

"No, there wasn't."

"No wonder we lost."

"We didn't lose." Aayla replied firmly. "Technically the Republic won the war. The Confederacy had been losing ground, and with the loss of both their Supreme Commander and highest ranking General it looked like victory was within our grasp."

"Then what happened?"

"It's our opinion that the war was engineered, a farce created by the Sith to gain power." Dass explained as he began pacing back and forth, ignoring the worried or even disbelieving looks he was getting. "Our Chancellor turned out to be the Sith Lord who had united the Separatist factions and created the Confederacy. At the same time he had been gathering followers and allies in the Senate, and the lynchpin in his plan was making the Jedi the commanders of the army and surrounding them with Clone Troopers who were completely loyal to the Republic, so when the order came that the Jedi were to be eliminated they would execute it, without mercy or question."

Naruto pictured that Jedi girl, Barriss, enveloped in fire, of the three apprentices lying dead in the outpost base, and by the flinch Aayla gave he knew she remembered as well. From what his friend said Barriss was a healer. She deplored the idea of killing, and only did so when there was no other option. She didn't deserve to die. Neither did those kids in that outpost base, all of them were only teenagers.

"It's a topic which causes both of you pain," Celeste said softly, seeing Aayla just nod her head.

"A lot of friends died," Dass replied stiffly before a sudden beeping sound emanated from the intercom in the cockpit. He sighed before walking out of the room to answer it.

Celeste leaned forward, clasping her hands together and leaning her forehead against them for a few heartbeats before turning back to Aayla. "Do you know of any survivors besides you two?"

Aayla shook her head. "No, so far it's just the two of us."

"The two of you," Celeste asked before looking at Naruto. "What about him?"

"I'm not a Jedi," Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "My kind are known as Shinobi, and believe me us and the Jedi have not been in contact with each other until recently. In fact we had no space travel at all. We still used carts and wagons. We didn't even know how to fly without the use of Jutsu."

"Jutsu," she asked quizzically. "What is Jutsu?"

"I'll explain later, for now it seems that we're finally getting moving." Naruto said as he too stood up.

"Quite right," Schurk agreed. "Alright everyone let's get ready to go, everyone to your stations and make ready."

The Captains word effectively ended the conversation, and all rose and moved to their stations. Crys disappeared into the cockpit to join Dass. Ratty, Mezgraf and Valkier moved to the engine room to perform some last minute checks. Aayla and Bomo moved to their own standby positions near the gun turrets. Naruto sighed as he cracked his neck muscles and moved to his room. He was still a novice in anything mechanical and would just be in the way of the rest of them.

A hand tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see the Jedi Shadow standing there. She was a head shorter than him, he realised, to the point where she had to raise her head to meet his eyes. The two starred at each other for a moment before she lowered her head and closed her eyes. "Thank you, for saving me. If you weren't able to remove Murr from me I'd have probably gone mad. I just... well, thank you."

Naruto smiled at her in response, putting a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look back up at him. "Don't worry about it. No one deserves to have their freedom stolen from them."

Celeste managed a small smile.

"So how are you feeling?" Naruto asked, making her look up at him again. "Are you going to be alright?"

That was the question. Was _she _going to be alright? "I don't know."

"Well if you ever need to talk," Naruto said, smiling a smile which told her everything. That he knew exactly where she was going through, and he could help. "We're all here, and we all know exactly what you're going through."

She smiled wryly, "You're all time travellers from the distant past?"

"You know what I mean," he said seriously.

"I know," she sighed after a moment, and smiled a smile which didn't feel nearly as forced as a moment before. "And thank you."

Naruto looked into her eyes for a moment before smiling. "You're welcome, so it's going to be a boring wait. You wanna talk?"

"Sure," she replied as they both walked back to the sofa and sat down. "So Naruto, where are you from?"

"You first," he countered.

* * *

"Are you sure you felt her?"

"I'm positive."

The cantina was not the finest of establishments, although considering its location in the underground of the infamous Smuggler's Moon that wasn't surprising. It was a large place, made up of several bars, a lot of tables and chairs, a dance floor; several huge vid-screens on the walls showing sports and news, and dozens of private booths where people could conduct their business in relative peace. This particular cantina, known as the _Rogues_, was infamous for being a haven to smugglers, drug dealers and small time crime lords.

It was also the perfect place to have a private conversation. In one of the private booths sat a small group of people, two men and a woman. One was Quinlan Vos, former Jedi Master. The others were his former teacher and Jedi Master Sirius Tholme and fellow Jedi Master T'ra Saa.

Tholme was an old man, with greying hair and features which had known the worst of war and the best of peace. He had lost his left eye, and had a cybernetic replacement implanted as well as losing his left leg and also replacing it with a prosthetic. He was once the Jedi Watchman of Kiffu, Vos' homeworld and was the one who not only found him but convinced him to join the Jedi Order. He was a fine tactician, a traditional Jedi who knew the orders greatest achievement as well as their worst mistakes, and a brilliant lightsaber duellist.

Quinlan didn't know T'ra Saa's age, and to be honest he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Her people, the Neti, were known to live for thousands of years although this was mostly speculation considering the species few numbers. She was an accomplished Jedi Master, known within the Order for training many apprentices including the now deceased second chair of the Jedi High Council, Mace Windu. She was calm and thoughtful and had this annoying habit of speaking in riddles when the mood suited her.

"You don't believe me?"

"I'm not sure whether I believe you or not," Tholme replied honestly. "I wasn't able to feel this tremor in the force, but... "

He was silent, and after a moment T'ra Saa spoke up in his place. The two of them were always like that. As far back as he could remember. They had formed a special bond during their times as Jedi in the Order, and sometimes Quinlan thought that they acted more than simple friends, but it was not his place to pry. "Are you absolutely sure that you felt her presence?"

"Undoubtedly," Vos answered without a hint of doubt. "I was her teacher for quite a few years. I know her presence well."

"As do I, if you recall." Tholme countered wryly. "I did teach her during the final years of her apprenticeship, though I will admit that we never shared the same bond the two of you shared."

"Are you sure you felt her death, Tholme?" T'ra Saa asked.

"I am almost sure of it, but so many died that day."

"If she is here then we need to find her." Vos said as he went to stand, only to be stopped when Tholme grabbed his arm.

"Don't be hasty Vos. You're a wanted fugitive, all of us are. You can't just go out there and look."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Vos asked snappily. "Just sit here and do nothing."

"No, not sit there and do nothing." Tholme replied patiently. "We need to think this through Quinlan. I would be eternally happy if she were here safe and sound but even if she was alive and here on Nar Shaddaa we wouldn't have the slightest idea where to look. There are at least a thousand spaceports on this side of the planet alone."

"She was my apprentice master," Vos managed. "I felt her presence here. I need to find her."

"Think of Khaleen and your son, Vos." Tholme countered calmly. "You cannot just rush out there and put them in danger."

There was a moment of silence before Vos sighed and nodded his head. "You are right Master, I apologise."

"There is nothing to apologise for." Tholme countered in mild annoyance. The first hint of emotion he displayed since the meeting began. It made both Quinlan and T'ra Saa take pause. "I wish to find her as well. T'ra, could you snoop around for us, use our contacts to see if a young Lethan Twi'lek female was spotted in any of the spaceports, matching the description of Aayla?"

T'ra Saa nodded her head with a calming smile. "I will do that."

She stood, put some credits down for her half full drink, and made to exit the bar.

"I hope it's not my imagination." Quinlan said after a moment.

"As do I, my friend."

* * *

Nar Shaddaa was a smugglers paradise, as well as a potential safe haven for the more underground elements of the galaxy; smugglers, mercenaries, criminals, gangsters, traitors, failed revolutionaries, bounty hunters, pirates all had a presence on the planet nicknamed the _Smugglers Moon_. Because of its clientele this made the moon a potentially dangerous place for those who couldn't defend themselves.

It was also a potential safe haven for those running from the authorities.

In basic terms it was the perfect place to hide. The simple fact that the influential and lucrative Hutt cartels owned the moon, as well as a significant portion of the surrounding sectors meant that the Republic rarely dared to enter unless it was a matter of serious importance. The Empire probably wouldn't try to force the Hutts to kneel either, not until they dealt with the remnants of the Separatists at least.

The _Uhumele _had been given clearance, and had landed on a platform of a local spaceport. Naruto had never been to such a place before and he was mesmerised by what he saw. Nar Shaddaa was one huge city. Skyscrapers rose up as if attempting to pierce the sky, huge spires of cold, dark durasteel unlike anything he had ever seen before. Underneath him was a monumental drop that could have been a kilometre or two in depth before he would reach the surface. The glass floors of the pedestrian paths didn't really help much, and he was glad when the glass gave way to solid durasteel floors.

As the chosen team left the landing station and entered the surrounding city all he could see was streets and streets of booths and stalls selling everything from souvenirs to food to clothes and a mass of other things, all lit up by bright signs of dozens of different colours, some in galactic basic, others in languages he couldn't hope to understand.

"Amazing," he breathed as he kept up with the group, which was hard because of two variables. One he was continuously looking around him and two the throng of people walking along the main streets. It was a small mercy that the others noticed him and pulled him along.

"That's a usual reaction for someone who's never seen Nar Shaddaa before," Bomo snickered as they walked along.

"You should see Coruscant," Dass added with a wry smile. "It's ten times better than here, and a lot safer."

Schurk was in the lead, dressed in one of his usual fine robes, followed by Dass, Bomo and Naruto. The rest of the crew remained behind to guard the ship. Valkier and Muzgraf were more than capable of handling any potential threats, unless they turned out to be a platoon of Clone Troopers, then they would have to deal with Aayla and Celeste. Crys remained behind as well in case they needed to make a quick getaway and Ratty had locked himself in the engine room to make some adjustments to the freighters repulsor coils and hyperdrive engines.

"I have one question," Bomo stated as they rounded a corner into a quieter street. "Why are we going along with one of the Captains contacts again?"

"Excuse me?" Schurk sounded annoyed, if not outright insulted by Greenbarks remark.

"The second time was outside of his control," Dass replied, eyes alert as they darted from side to side in search of any possible ambush.

"Besides we're more prepared now than we were then," Naruto added, mirroring what his Jedi friend was doing.

"How so?"

In answer Naruto opened his coat, showing lines of kunai, shuriken, paper seals, blaster cartridges, grenades and a few other scrolls secreted in the inner material. Bomo frowned, before noticing that Jennir had a similar sized trenchcoat on him, most likely carrying a duo of hold-out blaster pistols and his lightsaber.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"You did. The armour under your tunic and the extra blaster pistol are dead giveaways." Dass countered wryly.

"That still doesn't answer why we're allowing ourselves to go by one of the Captains contacts." Bomo countered with a frown.

"I resent that," the Captain countered mildly. "And we're not using one of my contacts this time. This just happens to be a contact Mrs Secura picked up during undercover assignments quite a few years ago."

"I don't doubt Aayla's judge of character but is this guy reliable?"

"Her teacher used him a few times and she used him once, no problems." Dass replied as the group moved into another side street, this time far away from the busy main street they had begun their journey through. "Plus from what she told me, his family goes back with the Jedi Order."

"Did they have a Jedi or two in the family?"

"Close but no," the Jedi Master replied. "He, his father and his grandfather were Antarian Rangers."

"Anterian what?"

"Antarian Rangers," Dass clarified. "They were a paramilitary force set up to assist the Jedi Order quite a few centuries ago. Mainly they were support, espionage and defence troops. The Jedi wanted to use them as frontline, but heavy losses during the beginning of the war set them back to support and I'm guessing when Order 66 came about they were hit as bad as us. The survivors have since gone underground."

"So this guy is a member of these Rangers?"

"Yeah,"

"Can he be trusted?" Naruto asked.

"Definitely;"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto put a hand on Bomo's shoulder, and when the Nosaurian looked up to him be noticed the blond shift his eyes skyward. The former soldier followed his eyes and after a moment he noticed it, a few shadows on the rooftops on either side of them, creeping along and trying not to be noticed.

"Keep your voice down and keep looking forward," Naruto whispered, and Bomo obeyed.

"Bounty hunters?" he asked quietly.

"Looks like it," Naruto replied.

"Why aren't they attacking?"

"Probably thought they'd get a bigger haul by following us," Dass answered.

"Then we either need to lose them or take them out," Bomo muttered harshly, hand itching ever closer to one of his blasters.

"Already on it," Naruto said, removing his hand from his friends shoulder. "They may be shadowing us, but there's a platoon of shadow clones shadowing them. They should pounce on them any moment now."

There was silence, followed by cursing and a few blaster bolts, then more silence. Naruto closed his eyes, allowing his clone's memories to flood through his subconscious before nodding his head to his friends. "They got them all."

"You really are a one man army," Bomo muttered under his breath.

"We may need to warn the others." Schurk piped in.

Dass nodded his head before raising his wrist and tapping a few numbers into the personal comlink. "Crys, this is Dass. We were followed by bounty hunters, been taken care off but watch out for some on your end. You get that."

"_Loud and clear, we'll keep our eyes open."_

* * *

He looked down at the posters, knowing their faces from reports and newsreels over the last few years. Both were Jedi, one was a Master while the other was a Knight, both had achieved the rank of General in the Grand Army of the Republic. Both had stepped onto the frontline and survived countless battles alongside his father's clones. One he was sure had been dead.

Boba Fett looked through his visor at the operative at the other end of the table. The Rodian looked exactly the same as any other Rodian to him, but he was an agent of the bounty office and he had just called together some of the deadliest bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa at the behest of the new government on Coruscant. There were at least twenty men and women here, some he knew from working alongside his father and from his own solo career after that, others he didn't. He looked down at the two wanted posters again, taking in names, basic information and rewards.

Dass Jennir, Jedi Master and General, wanted for inciting rebellion and terrorist activities on New Plympto. Reward for his capture, dead or alive, is set at five hundred thousand credits, payable only if either him or his body is produced to Imperial authorities.

Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight and General, wanted for attempting to poison the water supply of the colony world of Felucia. Reward for her capture, dead or alive, is set at one hundred thousand credits, payable only if either her or her body is produced to Imperial authorities.

"You're sure that they are on planet?" Jon Fenrar, a lanky Mirialan, asked as he smoked a pipe of tobacco.

"The ship that brought them here has been confirmed as the _Uhumele_, and its crew also have an additional bounty of three hundred thousand for smuggling activities and escaping Imperial patrols." the Rodian answered.

"Sssso, we can bring them in dead or alive?" Zelch Koslo, a Trandoshan known for taking the heads of his victims, asked.

"Yes, dead or alive."

More talking took place as some hunters continued to ask questions while others were leaving, probably to try and get a head start, others still were talking amongst themselves, most likely to form a temporary alliance for the job. Fett just stood and left. There was no need to make alliances with bounty hunters. They would stab you in the back at the slightest opportunity. He would go it alone, wait for his moment and strike and collect the bounty on their heads. He was a Mandalorian, and he would get the job done.

They were Jedi, and he would give them no quarter.

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author's Alert 2: **__Sorry for the lateness, but now my exams over and I'm just waiting for the results. It's the waiting I hate the most, an entire month to gain my results. Well can't help it now. This chapter was shorter than I hoped for, but it did the job as I wanted it to do in moving the plot along. Not much Naruto this chapter, but some information to chew on for those readers who aren't regular Star Wars readers._

_**Author's Alert 3: **__Also just to warn you I will be on holiday from the 2__nd__ of September till the 9__th__, _right that's done so (Puts on hat). Off to Spain we go!


	15. Frosty Reception

_**Chapter 14**_

_**Frosty Reception**_

"Here you go."

Celeste looked up and smiled as she saw a bowl of food and a glass of milk placed in front of her. She was starving. Her stomach growled from just gaining the scent of the food and the moment she took the first bite she had to forcibly stop herself from devouring it like a ravenous beast. She ate fast though, ignoring the bemused look she was getting from her fellow Jedi Knight, Aayla, and the pilot, Crys. Within minutes she had an empty plate and had downed her milk in one go.

"You were hungry I'm guessing?" Crys asked as she took a bite of her meat.

Celeste fell back into her chair, smiling a little in embarrassment, "Starving, thank you for the meal."

"You're welcome," Aayla replied before taking a bite of her own food.

Aayla thought as they ate, studying Celeste absently. The way she moved echoed her life, how she held herself told Aayla right away that she was a soldier, someone who had fought her fair share of battles and suffered because of it. Her mental strength spoke volumes, fighting for control of her mind against the spirit of a deceased Sith Lord and only now breaking down under the pressure said that she was stronger than most. But that strength could also lead to stubbornness. She tried to put on an act after her breakdown, tried to keep an air of strength, calmness and control.

It wasn't until after she spoke with Naruto that her demeanour changed, and for the better. Aayla could no longer sense that waning mental control that was stubbornly kept in place, instead it seemed that those failing mental defences had been cast aside and she allowed herself to open up just a little to those around her. The young Jedi once again had to wonder how her friend was capable of this. Getting people to open up and express their inner thoughts was not an ability to laugh at.

"What's wrong?"

Her voice roused Aayla from her thoughts, and she looked over to an expectant Celeste with an apologetic expression. She had been starring, she realised. "I apologise."

Morne smiled wryly, "For wanting to ask questions?"

Aayla turned the question in her mind for a moment, aware that Crys seemed to be torn between staying and going. "I just want to know what the Jedi was like during your time."

"What about your history books?" Celeste asked.

"A lot of the simple information was lost over the centuries, and I would just like to hear what the Jedi were like from someone who has been there." Aayla replied.

Crys watched on as the two Jedi danced around the issue, knowing that she was intrigued and interested in what the two Jedi were talking about, but wondering whether she should remain and hear it or allow the two privacy to talk about their Orders ancient past. "I can leave if you want?"

"No, that's alright Crys," Aayla waved her off.

Morne laughed lightly, "You make it sound like we're talking about the Orders dirty little secrets Mrs. Pilot."

Crys pouted, but didn't feel insulted by the Jedi's laughter, if anything she felt relieved that Celeste seemed to be getting over her spell of shellshock. Until she met Aayla and Dass she had thought that the Jedi were completely immune against such things as mental trauma. She believed that they were uncaring and unemotional mages and sorcerers living in their ivory towers on Coruscant, who kidnapped children and forced their will upon the Republic. It sounded like a cynical conspiracy theory, Crys knew that, but it was one that with the outbreak of the Clone Wars became almost like rhetoric in some parts of the galaxy.

"Anyway, what we were like," Morne frowned as she thought, trying to remember memories which were probably hazy at best. "Well we were recovering from the last war with the Sith Empire, so our numbers were pretty small. A few well known families had been wiped out-"

"Families?" Crys asked, before looking apologetic for cutting her off midsentence.

Celeste frowned, "Why should that be a surprise."

"The Jedi don't have families," the pilot replied.

"What do you mean we don't have families," Celeste sounded a little insulted by the comment. "Do you think we all just magically appear from holes in the ground?"

"No,"

"That's not what she meant," Aayla spoke up before looking over at her fellow Jedi. "Crys means that the Jedi do not associate with their families, one of the mandates of the Jedi Order is that all potential emotional bonds are cut off. We all know that we had families, but we were usually separated from our birth parents if that was what they wished."

Celeste looked a little surprised by this, almost disbelieving. "You're joking."

"No, it's one of our main mandates when it comes to recruitment. If the parents agree then we take potential Jedi initiates in and train them, cutting them off from all ties outside of the Order." Aayla explained.

Celeste snorted, still thinking it was a joke, but the seriousness on both of her host's faces soon told her otherwise. Soon the smile gave way to a serious expression. "Force preserve me you're not joking."

"You mean it wasn't like that in your day?" Crys asked.

"You bet your pretty ass it wasn't." Celeste replied, the slightly pieces of pure disbelief and near outrage filtering into her voice. "Sure we were told to watch our emotions, trained into how to deal with it, but we didn't outright ban Jedi from falling in love and getting married. By my time there were hundreds of families of all sizes in the order, some had been in service for nearly thirty generations or more, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, you name it."

Aayla was deep in thought as Celeste continued on to a steadily more interested Crys, thinking. If she had been born during that timeline then her feelings for Naruto would have not been so taboo. She quickly berated herself; it was a waste of time dwelling on impossible what ifs.

"So you were a member of one of these families?"

"No, I was an orphan." Celeste replied, beginning to settle down a bit but Aayla could tell by the look in her eyes that she was far from completely settled down. "There were plenty of Jedi who didn't hail from one of the families, many were born from non-force sensitive parents, others were orphans but we never cut them off from their families."

"Then what could have happened to the Jedi to make them take such a drastic step." Crys asked.

"I have no idea," Celeste replied. "But I can tell you that that might have contributed somewhat to their image, if what you told me was widespread. It might have contributed to their strength as well, statistically Jedi born from force-strong families were usually stronger force users than those who were not. There were only a few exceptions to this and they were pretty few and far between."

"So back in your day Jedi families were encouraged?" Aayla asked.

"You bet they were." Celeste replied resolutely and without hesitation. She then looked over at Aayla. "So what's your story, are you an orphan?"

"More or less," Aayla replied. "I only remember having an uncle, and he was going to sell me at the slave auctions on Ryloath. I was saved by the Jedi at the last moment. They found me to be strong in the force and I was brought to the temple."

Celeste nodded her head. "That was quite common in my time."

"You were a slave," Crys asked softly.

Aayla nodded, "Mm, quite a few Jedi were."

"And you're uncle was going to sell you?" she sounded angry now. The young woman felt touched.

"It's a common practise on Ryloath," Aayla shrugged. "It was mainly used to protect our people from pirates when we first freed ourselves from the Hutts, but over the millennia it became imbedded in our culture. I don't like it, in fact I hate it, but there was only so much I could do."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Celeste sighed tiredly. "I had hoped that the Republic would have cracked down on this by now."

"Well the Republic didn't really have much control of the Outer-rim." Crys answered for her. "Most of the systems out there were members of the Republic in name only, and there were many who completely ignored most of their obligations as members."

Both Celeste and Aayla heard the bitterness in her voice, but it was Celeste who decided to act upon it. She leaned forward, clasping her hands together on the metal table and looked Taanzer right in her brandy coloured eyes. "So what's your story?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what happened to you to make you so bitter," Celeste clarified. "Everyone on this ship seems to have come from a bad past, whether they'd be soldiers, slaves or those who were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Crys narrowed her eyes at Morne, "Why should I answer?"

"Because you know what happened to us," Morne replied without a moment of hesitation. "I was trapped in a box hounded by a Sith lords spirit for a few thousand years. Aayla was a freed slave turned Jedi who has just lost almost all of her friends and nearly her own life with this Order 66. It's only fair."

Crys thought for a moment before sighing. "Alright, I was born and raised on a small farming colony called Nadiem in the Outer-rim, married with a husband and a beautiful baby boy called Kennan. About five months into the beginning of the war my planet was attacked by the Separatists, for no other reason than that the Republic had chosen to defend it with a small contingent. My husband was killed, my home was destroyed and as I attempted to get off world with my son I knew that the chances of us both getting onto a transport was next to impossible."

She stopped, looking down at the table and holding her fork tightly. Celeste saw this and sighed. "I apologise, if the pain is still too fresh-"

"No, it's alright," Crys waved off abruptly, quickly flicking a tear from her cheek. "I was just reminiscing. Anyway while we were waiting a Jedi Healer was tending to my son, he got a deep cut on his arm and I had grabbed him as he was running by. He asked his Padawan to check my son's blood work and they found that he was force-sensitive. The Healer offered to take my son off world to Coruscant so that he could be trained to become a Jedi. At the time I thought it was a godsend, so I agreed and they got him on the first transport off the planet. The Separatists broke through the Republic line not long after that, the Healer was killed alongside every soldier left behind, and a lot of civilians were killed in the crossfire. I was lucky to make it out alive."

Crys stopped again, looking up at the ceiling. The two before her made no move to hurry her along. They simply waited. "After that my home was forgotten by the galaxy as the war spread. I moved from planet to planet, getting by however I could. Eventually I got into trouble with a crime lord. That was when the Captain saved me. He took me in, taught me to fly and offered me a job. I took it, feeling that if I kept flying I would one day be able to see my son again, but then Order 66 happened and I heard that all of the Jedi, including Padawans and younglings, were killed, ever since I've hated the Empire for killing my son and the Jedi for not being able to protect him."

"I'm sorry," Aayla replied as she looked down at the table, eyes faraway.

Crys snorted. "What are you apologising for. I don't like the Jedi, but that doesn't mean I have anything against you Aayla. You helped save Bomo's daughter from a monster and that makes you and Naruto alright in my book."

"That doesn't mean your son is dead though," Aayla pointed out, seeing Crys frown. "I mean it Crys, Dass knows a few safe havens. Maybe your son is on one of them."

"Thank you for saying Aayla," Crys replied with a small smile, a sad smile. "But I'm almost too scared to hope."

"Doesn't mean you have to give up though," Aayla replied with a sad smile of her own. "As long as there's hope anything is possible."

"Who said that?"

"Naruto,"

Crys laughed, "Sounds like something he'd say."

Celeste smiled as she leaned back in her chair then used the momentum to come forward. There was a soft thud as the front of her chair hit the decking, and then she spoke. "I don't think I'm going to rejoin the Jedi Order, even if it was still here."

"Why is that?"

"Too different from the one I remember," Celeste replied with a sad smile. "It would feel like joining a bad imitation to me. I just don't like the idea that I would be unable to fall in love, or be frowned upon for laughing or crying or showing any emotions, both positive and negative. I believe that you need to vent your emotions in some way and not bottle them up, because if you do then you will eventually explode."

"But you were a Jedi Shadow," Aayla pointed out. "You couldn't have that, at least not in the long term."

Celeste thought about this for a moment before leaning against her chairs back. "You're right, doesn't mean I wanted the whole Jedi Order to be like me though. To fall in love is not something to be frowned upon. It is to be cherished. To be able to love each other, to hold a son or a daughter or both in ones hands, to raise a family. That isn't something that should be taken away."

A small smile graced Aayla's lips, as what Celeste said reminded her of her former master. The Shadow caught onto this rather quickly and with a wry smile cupped her face in her hands. "Did I say something funny?"

"No," Aayla replied, smile not leaving. "You just remind me of someone."

"Was he important?"

"He was like a father to me." She replied. "He did exactly what you said, what the Jedi considered taboo. He fell in love, was going to quite the Jedi, and live a life with her."

The melancholy smile told the other two women exactly what they needed to know. It was Crys who said it. "He's dead isn't he?"

Aayla just nodded. She was sure she felt his death, mixed in with all the others when that horrid order was given out. Quinlan Vos, an undercover spy for the Republic, Khaleen Hentz, a spy for the Confederacy. Her master was supposed to infiltrate the highest echelons of the Separatists, Khaleen was sent in to keep tabs on him by the Separatists. They fell in love somewhere in the middle, Khaleen turned to the Republic. Quin told her, Tholme, and Tra'Saa that he was going to resign from the Order once the war was over. She had supported it, because she felt in her heart that it was the best thing for the both of them. Khaleen was pregnant at the time.

How long had that been?

How old was Khaleen's child? Five, or six months old by now

_Aayla, I want you to be our child's godmother._

That last day the two of them were on Felucia.

It felt so much like a goodbye.

* * *

"What a dump."

"That's the point."

They were pretty far away from the centre of the district, bright multicoloured lights slowly replaced by dim and flickering counterparts. As the group walked down a labyrinth of passageways and side alleys Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. This was a lawless part of the district. He felt it in his bones. Drunks and the homeless lined the streets, watching him with either tired or unnaturally sharp eyes.

"Watch what you say," Dass muttered into his ear, looking around quietly. "Chances are a few of these guys are thieves, snitches or aides to crime lords and bounty hunters."

Naruto simply nodded, now looking straight ahead and ignoring all those around him. Eventually they crossed to another side alley, and looking up Naruto could see the huge spires of towers and skyscrapers, some looking more than large enough to hide whole armies into. He guessed that these brokers they were going to visit were within one of these huge buildings.

Finally they reached an entrance, a large side door that looked more like a blast door. It looked capable of deflecting heavy blaster fire, and the small flap at head height only confirmed it as a security door. Dass raised a hand, stopping the procession and walked up to the door on his own. He raised his hand and knocked three times in quick succession, hesitated for a moment, then knocked another two times. There was a moment of silence, and then the flap slid opened.

"Yes?"

"I hear this is a refuge for the lost."

"That depends, what is the password?"

"I am a defender of peace."

"We are the defenders of the defenders."

"The force guides us all."

There was another moment of silence, followed by a thud as the flap was brought back into place and a snap as at least six different locks were unlocked. The door opened and Dass waved the rest of the group in before moving in himself. Schurk, Naruto and Bomo followed through the door, which closed and relocked itself after them. Beyond the door was a large room and at least six armed men, four humans of varying ages, one Zeltron and a three eyed Gran all wearing civilian clothes yet the weapons they carried and the way they held themselves told the group that they weren't dealing with amateurs.

"Hand over your weapons." Dass said as he handed one of the men his lightsaber and blaster. The three of them hesitated before reluctantly handing them over. Bomo growled as he handed over his blaster carbine, and Naruto gained a few surprised looks when he handed over not a weapon or two but a small armoury's worth of weapons including his duel blasters, weapon pouches and his katana.

Once they were all checked to see if there were any other weapons they were herded out of the small room into a long corridor, led by the man and flanked by the other five. Naruto was well aware of how tense these guys were, and how close their fingers were on the triggers of their blaster carbines. He mightn't be able to get out of here without a scratch. Took away most of his main Jutsu, and shadow clones would be useless in such an enclosed space.

They exited the corridor into perhaps the biggest space Naruto had ever seen indoors. The ceiling stretched up by at least a hundred meters, and the far wall was also quite far away. Ships were scattered across the deck of all shapes and sizes from yachts and transports to freighters and even a few old military vessels. In the centre of the deck were large scaffolding holding up what looked like the skeleton of a ship, a transport the same as the _Uhumele,_ in the process of being stripped for spare parts. Men and women of all species, between forty and fifty strong, worked away on the ships. They were all armed, Naruto saw, and they all carried themselves like soldiers.

They were led across this bay, right to the centre, where they saw a table, plans stretched along its surface, and a few workers scrutinising over them. Naruto knew in the back of his mind that these three individuals, two men and a woman were the leaders of this operation. All three looked up as the group approached, and with a nod from the tallest man the woman rolled up the plans.

The woman was in her late thirties early forties, with black hair done up in a ponytail which showed the first signs of turning gray. Her skin was a greenish yellow with small diamond shaped tattoos decorating the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She wore a black jumpsuit and leather boots. She kept herself physically fit and the blaster holstered to a utility belt told him that she knew how to use it.

The two men seemed parallels of each other. One was a head smaller than the other with black hair and a well trimmed beard. His skin was pale and his dark eyes were sharp. Like the woman he too wore a black jumpsuit, blaster holstered to a utility belt. His build was lithe, like a man who gained his muscle by work rather than through exercise. He also carried himself with an air of authority and deadly ability, the leader of this group perhaps.

The last man was tall, almost as tall as Naruto himself. He was also well muscled, like a man who could snap your neck with his little finger. He was bald and his skin was the colour of charcoal with dark eyes which had the dimness of a seasoned soldier. Eyes like Naruto once had after the Fourth Great Shinobi War. He wore the black jumpsuit, but the blaster holstered to his belt was larger and it looked like it could take a head off.

The man who led them walked up to the smaller of the two and whispered into his ear, as he informed him the leaders expression turned from a thoughtful frown to a small smile. He nodded, dismissed their escorts and walking up to Dass pulled off a perfect military salute. "It's good to see a Jedi alive out here, Master Jennir was it?"

"Yes," Dass replied, shaking the man's hand. "It's good to see some friendly faces this far out as well. I take it your Colonel Jack Cristo of the 10th Division?"

"Got it in one," the man replied, grinning. "I'm glad that we made a name for ourselves. So what can I do for you?"

"We have an Imperial ship that we need getting rid off for a suitable price, and I hear that this little business of yours is just what we need to do so." Dass replied. It had been decided early on that they would let Dass do all of the talking, with Schurk acting as his advisor while Bomo and Naruto simply acted as stone faced bodyguards.

"I see," Cristo nodded before turning to Naruto and the others. "And they are?"

"Friends with a common goal," Dass answered. "I hope they're presence won't cause too much of a fuss."

"As long as they don't pry into anything Master Jennir," Jack replied before waving the Jedi Master to the table. "So what kind of ship are you trying to sell?"

"It's an Imperial shuttle, _Theta-class_," Schurk spoke up for the first time.

Cristo whistled in appreciation, "That's a fine ship, seen the specs for her before everything went to hell. That'll get you between a hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand credits easy if you tried to sell it openly."

"Well for obvious reasons we can't sell her openly." Dass replied as the two of them sat down, "So how much are you offering? She would probably come in handy to sneak past Imperial patrols, has access and clearance codes recently installed."

The woman sat beside Jack, eyeing Dass and the rest of them with a serious gaze. "Meet Serena, probably far better at telling you price than I am. What do you think?"

She leaned forward, "Any damage to her?"

Dass shrugged, "Some carbon scoring from ricocheting laser fire and the tracking device has been wrecked though that might do the buyer better than if it was intact."

She nodded her head, "Can she be tracked?"

"I had my friends thoroughly check her for any additional tracking devices. She came up all clean." Dass answered, "Though you guys can do a follow up if you like."

Serena nodded her head before leaning over to the Colonel and whispering into his ear. He nodded once, then twice, before bringing his attention back to Dass. "We'll give you a hundred and twenty thousand for her, cash with no paper trail, and only if she's in as good shape as you say she is."

"I thought you said she was worth between a hundred and fifty and two hundred thousand in open market?" Schurk asked with a frown.

"That she is, but these are harsh times for all of us. It isn't just the Jedi who have suffered from the end of this force-awful war. Anyone associated with them is targeted with just as much zeal, and considering we Antarian Rangers were their support we've got impressive bounties on our heads as well." He looked up at the larger man, who nodded his head. "A hundred and twenty thousand is all that we can afford to give you right now."

"It's still good enough for you to buy a decent second hand starship," Serena piped up. "Plus remember that the shuttle your selling is more designed for atmospheric than long range space flight."

"She's right," Schurk muttered into Jennir's ear. "And a hundred and twenty thousand is still pretty good by back alley standards."

Jennir leaned back in his chair, sighed and finally nodded his head. He rummaged into his pocket and tossed a small tracking device over to the Colonel, who caught it deftly. "She's hidden in the asteroid belt. That tracker will lead your crew right to her."

Cristo smiled and nodded, handing the contractor to the larger man, "A pleasure doing business with you, Master Jennir. I'll have my boys get the money right now."

"Thank you," Dass bowed his head slightly in thanks. "If I may ask as well, is there any news on any other Jedi coming through this area?"

Jack looked right at Dass for a moment, and for a while Naruto could see a conflict of emotions in the Colonels eyes. "There is, a small group passed by here a few days ago. We're still in contact with them."

The eyes of the Jedi master gave him away, hope. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive," Jack replied. "I can contact them and tell them you're here, perhaps set up a rendezvous and-"

Anymore words were silenced by the blast of blaster fire, a bolt of crimson slamming into the big man's chest and sending him onto his back, unmoving. More blaster fire followed, one hitting Serena in the shoulder and forcing her to spin onto her back. Jack overturned the table, grabbing Serena and dragging her behind it as Naruto, Bomo, Schurk and Dass made a rush to cover. They jumped and dived behind a pile of equipment and reached for the empty spaces where their blasters would have been.

Naruto took the chance to look over, noticing that the attackers were firing from places of height, walkways and scaffolding. At least five bodies were scattered across the floor, and of those two were still moving. One of them was a Rodian, attempting to crawl for cover, and the other, a human woman, lying on her side, holding onto a wound in her abdomen, moaning in pain.

"I'm starting to wish for our weapons boss," Bomo called over the din of blaster fire.

"Keep your frills on Bomo," Naruto called as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small scroll. "I'm working on it."

"I thought you took care of them!" Schurk yelled.

"I did!" Naruto shot back in agitation.

The Antarian Rangers and workers had mostly found cover, drawn blasters, and proceeded to return fire upon their attackers. Volleys of blaster fire peppered the walkways high above, but the durasteel of the decking and the railing coverings would not yield to the superheated blaster bolts. Naruto pulled off the scrolls seal with his teeth, opened it across the ground, placed his hand on the release seal and concentrated some chakra into it, a simple word and a puff of smoke showed what was within the scroll.

Weapons

A nice laid out group of weapons ranging from blaster pistols to carbines to rifles to even a lightsaber which Naruto picked up and tossed to Dass, "Regards from Aayla."

"Naruto, I love you man." Bomo cried as he picked up a carbine and checked its magazine. "Where did all this come from?"

"Felucia," Naruto replied with a shrug as he picked up a blaster rifle and checked it over. "Courtesy of the 327th Star Corps, you like?"

"I like a lot," Bomo nodded enthusiastically. "Say what you want about the Clones but at least their equipment is state of the art!"

"Indeed," Naruto agreed before looking over at Schurk who was hauling up a heavy repeating blaster onto the crates and Dass who was finishing reloading a pair of pistols. "Are we ready?"

"Yes,"

"Then let's give it to them!"

The four of them aimed their small assortment of weapons at the walkway and opened fire in a withering mass of azure blue blaster fire, scorching and burning away at the durasteel, but it still failed in piercing through the material. They needed something stronger, a grenade or rocket launcher maybe, but that was not in Naruto's scroll and looking around he surmised that the Rangers didn't have anything like that in their arsenal either.

That meant only one thing.

"Cover me,"

"What?"

"I'm going to blow them away." Naruto said grimly as he stood up and took a few steps back before concentrated chakra into the palm of his hand for what many back home called his ultimate offensive Jutsu. "Let's go wild!"

* * *

"_Are you sure that's the one?"_

"_It's the one. It's the only ship matching the description and those two out front only make it all the more likely."_

Boba Fett listened into the conversation as he activated the zooming function of his helm, taking a closer look at the ship and its occupants. It was pretty simple to place a tracking and listening device on a few of the bounty hunters who were opting to ally with each other. Most of them seemed pretty new to the game, and with a lack of experience comes great depths of confidence, but also stupidity.

"_Let's go, I crave their skulls."_

"_By all means go on in, get your ass shot off for all we care."_

It seemed that there was at least one with a brain in this bunch. Still they did find the _Uhumele_, and that at least showed that the bounty hunters he had decided to shadow were at least half capable. There were five of them, including the Trandoshian and another Mandalorian who he simply knew as Seth. It was Seth who seemed to have more than a single brain cell.

He ignored the chatter for now and focused his attention on the ship. There were two sentient beings guarding the vessel from the launch pad. They had set up a small table and two chairs, there was something hidden by a cloth on the table but he couldn't tell what it was. Only the one wearing a kimono and a wide brimmed straw hat was sitting on a chair. The other, a large and intimidating feline sentient who he could not place was standing with a blaster rifle held idly at his side. The two of them looked like simple hired help, but Fett knew better.

These were professionals.

For now he would stay and wait, see what came of the battle. The bounty hunters may be fools, but there were five of them and only two defenders. They were bound to at best kill the guards or at least cripple them, and then he would enter into the equation, deal with any remaining crew and haul them in for the bounties. The mercenaries below may think themselves capable, but they had no experience in dealing with Jedi, and Jedi were in an entirely different league from anything else in the galaxy.

There was only a handful of other prey more dangerous than Jedi. There was only a handful in the same league as fully trained Jedi. Most of them also had a connection with their so called force, and only a few who had no connection whatsoever.

Sith

Dark Acolytes

Trandoshan Slavers

And Mandalorians

Boba Fett was of the latter.

* * *

"You see them?"

Ko Valkier didn't move, not an inch. His wide brimmed straw hat didn't waver in the slightest. "Mm, I see them."

Mezgraf was still, serene, looked like he was talking about the weather rather than about the half dozen bounty hunters watching them from the rafters. "Should I get out the big guns?"

"Don't run, don't even jog," Valkier replied as he finally moved, raising his head just an inch to see their potential opponents from the shadows of his hat. He thumbed the small device secreted in his robes, knowing that it would make its way to the interior of the _Uhumele_. A moment later the comm. at the entrance to the ship began wailing. "Just walk, as casually as you can. Make it look like your simply answering a hail."

Mezgraf didn't nod, didn't even give any indication that he got an order. He just looked over at the blaring comlink, sighed and walked over to it. He picked it up, put it to his ear and answered. "Yes?"

"_Do we have company?"_

It was their pilot's voice, definitely her voice. "Yes."

"_Activating ray shields. They should be maximised enough to protect you guys as well, but be careful."_

"Yes ma'am."

"_We're sending Celeste and Aayla out, should provide the response we need."_

"Got it," the towering feline nodded, "Mezgraf out."

He hung up and walked casually over to his partner, Valkier looked at him from just under the brim of his hat, waiting for his signal. Mezgraf nodded in response, and Valkier calmly sat up and pulled the cloth from the table, revealing a miniature sized heavy repeating blaster set up on the surface. He gripped onto the handle and pulled the trigger, unleashing a volley of crimson blaster bolts at the bounty hunters.

He only had enough ammunition for ten seconds of fire, but that was enough for Crys to set up the ray shields on the _Uhumele_. Aayla and Celeste rushed out. Lightsabers ignited and watched as nearly two dozen sentient beings rushed them with blasters and knives drawn.

"That's more than I thought." Aayla muttered before falling into a defensive stance.

Celeste smiled grimly, "It feels just like home."

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author's Alert 2: **__Again I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, but I have some good news. I have passed my resit, I'm graduating in December. I'll never get tired of saying that. I am officially an Architectural Technologist . Anyway hoped you enjoyed this new instalment, not so much Naruto this time but then again I never said that this story would revolve around him twenty four seven._


	16. Lair of the Jackal

_**Chapter 15**_

_**Lair of the Jackal**_

Concentration was the key. One did not just summon such a powerful attack into being and throw it. One had to train until his chakra could be used to the perfect amount. Too little and it would fall apart. Too much and it would explode in the users face. This technique needed perfect chakra control, calculating every micro-ounce of exertion.

First Naruto called upon his infamous Sage Mode, and allowed the changes to take place. The red pigmentation which formed on his eyelids, the very eyes themselves change colour to yellow and the pupil morphing from round to that of a bar. His senses heightened including hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell. In this form he could unleash any offensive or defensive move in his arsenal without an aide.

He raised his hand, open palmed, fingers bent upwards and concentrated chakra into it, knowing the exact amount from instinct. The Rasengan came first, a swirling ball of pure chakra, blue as the deepest ocean and swirling as fast as a whirlpool. Then he added his element to it, knowing that again the amount had to be pinpoint accurate with the same results as possible when it was first formed. The chakra was added, the shape was pictured in his mind and held and the wind was stable and ready.

With that the ball of energy which was once a Rasengan became something more, four blade like points seemed to form from it, giving the energy the shape of a shuriken. It spun so fast that any observers would only see a near blur. A bell like sound resounded throughout the warehouse, a warning to his enemies and a signal to him that he was ready.

With an almighty cry of exertion he threw the Rasenshuriken, noticing a blaster beam impact off the ground a few feet away from him. His friends had done their job of covering for him well, and now it was his turn. The shuriken shaped projectile flew in a curved angle, aimed for the walkway where the majority of the bounty hunters were taking cover. It didn't explode on contact, it cut right through with a sharp squeal as the metal was sliced, followed by the bodies of whoever was behind the railing guard.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a screech as the cut through metal slid down and fell to the ground below with an almighty impact, the bodies of the five bounty hunters followed; landing on the decking in a cacophony of meaty thuds. This was what the Rasenshuriken was capable off, a destructive Jutsu which annihilated everything and anything in its path. It was up to the wielder if the target was cut in half or destroyed at the cellular level.

He chose the latter, easier to clean up.

In one fell stroke he annihilated two thirds of the enemy, and the spectacle seemed to have the desired effect on the survivors. They fled the scene, firing sporadically, and the Rangers were able to kill another one before they managed to break through the door at the other end and out of sight.

Cristo was shouting from his position, "Mathews, Crisis, take a unit and give chase. I don't want them leaking our position!"

The two men yelled an affirmative before calling out a list of names of people they were taking with them. Ten Rangers rushed forwards to the hatch nearest to where the mercenaries escaped from, armed with military grade blasters.

"What the hell was that!"

Naruto looked over the Dass before he finished. "My deadliest technique and one I don't use lightly."

"That was badass." Bomo muttered, and looking around as a medical team moved to the still alive woman in the open he scratched the back of his head. "And if you didn't use it we'd probably have suffered worse."

"That we would have," the group turned to see Cristo, half supporting half carrying his female companion, Serena, before carefully handing her off to a couple of medics. She looked alright, just a shot in the shoulder which had a bacta patch over it. "Three dead, five wounded. I thought you led them right to us, or were allied with them."

"And why would you think that?" Dass asked with a frown.

"You could have been a Jedi, but there are rumours of Jedi going turncoat and working for this new Empire." Jack replied with a shrug. "I had at least three men with rifles aiming at you guys, but good thing they didn't shoot."

"A very good thing," Schurk replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Indeed," Jack replied before looking around him and sighing. "It was a good place to hide, but not anymore. We're packing up and moving out to our secondary safe house, going to have to hide all of these ships as well."

"What about our bargain?" Schurk asked.

"Oh we want that ship, you can bet your ass we ain't backing out of it, but as to the transaction well." He scratched the back of his head. "It's going to have to be put on hold until we can get re-setup."

"I understand," Dass nodded before turning to Bomo. "Raise the _Uhumele_and tell Crys to get out of there. Can you tell us where this secondary safe house is?"

Cristo frowned but nodded as Bomo wandered off and began talking into his personal comlink. "Sure, it's on the other side of the district, I'll get my people to contact your people when we're setup and sure that we've lost the authorities, could take a couple of days though."

"We may not have a couple of days," Dass muttered.

"We got trouble," Bomo yelled. "The _Uhumele_is under attack, at least two platoons worth of bounty hunters. They're holding their own for now but they may need some help."

"Tell them to hold out," Dass replied as he walked over to the small armoury of weapons from Naruto's scroll, picked up a carbine and slammed a fresh magazine into place. "Schurk, you stick with these guys and let us know when they're setup again. The rest of you with me, we're going to knock some skulls."

Schurk nodded and followed Cristo as he moved, shouting orders to the men and women around him. Already a few ships were powering up and taking off, the thrums of several engines slowly filling the air. Naruto saw a YT-1300 freighter power up its thrusters and fly out of the still opening hanger bay doors.

"If Aayla and Celeste haven't done it first," Bomo muttered under his breath. "I've seen what Jedi can do when outnumbered and it's scary."

"You're forgetting Mezgraf and Ko," Naruto replied. "Those two could take out a small army themselves."

"Sith me those hunters don't stand a chance do they?"

"Probably not, but let's not take the risk shall we," Jennir shot back as he finished arming himself.

Naruto grabbed a passing by Ranger and smiled, "Can I have my blasters back now?"

* * *

The two of them were in the thick of the hunters within barely a second, lightsabers ignited, singeing the air as they swept and sliced. Three hunters fell to the ground, miniscule lines of burning flesh the only evidence of how they died as the two Jedi continued their advance into the mess of bodies. Blaster bolts were fired sporadically at them by the surprised hunters, but neither showed much exertion as they ducked, sidestepped and parried anything that came their way.

Mezgraf and Ko had already taken cover, toppling over a small pile of crates carrying foodstuffs and spare equipment. The Blood Carver dragged the heavy blaster with him, hauling it on top of their makeshift barricade and taking aim, not at the skirmish taking place in front of them but at the group of hunters firing from the rafters high above.

"Only got another six seconds of ammo left in this," Valkier growled as he took aim and squeezed the trigger enough to send a seconds worth of repeating blaster fire against the rafters, watching as they left scorch marks on the heavy steel railing.

"Then use it wisely my friend," Mezgraf replied as he un-slung his long barrelled blaster rifle from his back, adjusted the scope and aimed down the sights, frowning as he attempted to track the hunters firing at them from above.

"What about our Jedi friends?" Ko asked before he heard yet another cut off scream from their general direction. He chanced a glance, noticing that they must have thinned the enemy's numbers by at least a third in a matter of a few seconds. Bodies covered the decking, some alive though missing a limb, others didn't seem to be nearly as lucky.

Mezgraf released a throaty chuckle. "I believe our friends over there have things well in hand."

Ko nodded his head before aiming his heavy repeater back at the terrace and opening fire with a two second round, peppering the rafters once again with crimson blasts of fire but growling in frustration as he knew they hadn't connected with anything. "We need something with a bit more bite."

"I agree," the towering feline sentient replied before tapping the button for the built-in comlink in his shirt. "Crys, we need some of the heavy stuff."

There was a crackle of static before her voice filtered through. _"Already on it Mez, give us a moment."_

The rear gun turret was already swivelling into position even before she finished speaking, bringing its two quad-laser barrels to bear against the rafters where the sharpshooters were firing from. Two beams of green light ripped through the rafter in an explosion of flame and steel, sending the bodies of at least three hunters falling to the decking far below.

What fell to the ground weren't bounty hunters.

They were droids.

Ko and Mezgraf cursed within seconds of each other, but it was the Blood Carver who voiced the obvious first, "A diversion!"

"Thank you for noticing."

The two spun around, wide eyed, in time to see a male human with short black hair standing over them, blaster pistol held at waist height. Two more sentient beings approached, flanking him. The one on the left was a Trandoshan, and the one on the right was a Rodian. All three had blaster pistols drawn and held ready to fire.

"Would you please put your weapons down?"

Mezgraf growled in annoyance, but dropped his sniper rifle, following by Ko a few moments later. The link near his ear suddenly went dead, followed by a beeping noise from the comlink of the leading bounty hunter. He smirked as he reached up and clicked it on. "Yes?"

A drawl of laughter filled the static filled channel before a raspy voice spoke. _"We've taken the ship, no resistance, just a girl, a Nosaurian infant and a rodent."_

"Very good," the human nodded before clicking it off. There was a clank of metal and they all looked around to see the two Jedi women standing a few meters away from them, lightsabers still ignited and held at the ready. The few dozen thugs behind them now nothing more than bodies scattered across the deck, some silent, others moaning in pain, all defeated.

"You Jedi really are a deadly bunch," the man said before aiming his blaster right for Ko's head. "Drop your weapons or we start killing people."

Both women didn't respond, still holding their weapons at the ready. The man sighed, and with an almost idle movement fired his blaster, hitting Mezgraf in the shoulder and sending him falling onto his back, emitting a growl of pain but little else. The Twi'lek held her lightsaber closer to her side, almost as if she were thinking of rushing in.

"I wouldn't try that," the hunter replied as he fired another round, this one leaving a scorch mark in the metal, barely a few centimetres from where Mezgraf had fallen. "The next one goes into his chest, or would you rather I drag the woman out here and start shooting off her limbs?"

Aayla's eyes could have melted steel, but after a moment she relented, lowering her weapon and extinguishing the blade. She dropped her lightsaber onto the decking and took a step back, hands held up to show her lack of any other weapons. The other Jedi's eyes flashed angrily before she lowered her weapon and extinguished the blade.

"Clever girls," the man whistled with a grin motioning for the Rodian to pick up the weapons.

Before the Rodian got within a meter of the discarded lightsabers he was struck by a crimson blast of blaster fire, slamming into his chest and sending him to the ground in a heap, front smoking from the killing shot.

The human and the Trandoshan, surprised by the sudden strike, looked up in time to see a small cluster of small round objects fall at their feet. They hit the decking with a series of metallic clanks, some rolling a few inches, others bouncing, before exploding in unison, blinding all in attendance with white light.

Flash grenades.

There was a roar of a jetpack, and crimson blaster fire peppered the remaining two bounty hunters in sight, killing them in a hail of blaster bolts. A single silhouette hit the ground in the middle of the group in a crouch, wearing heavy armour of camouflaged green with gray and red lining over a jumpsuit of creamy gray. The armour was chipped and worn from age, and a type of clothe was wrapped around his torso, but anyone could tell where such armour hailed from.

It was the armour of a Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian looked up and in a quick flash drew a hold out blaster in time to fire three shots, all aimed at the two bounty hunters rushing down the ships rampway. Two hit the first one, one in the chest and the other in the shoulder, while the third slammed into the face of the man right behind him, both fell onto the ramp and rolled onto the decking, coming to a stop.

The Mandalorian remained where he was, surveying the area to make sure that no one else was lying in wait before he began moving, hands blurring into his utility belts to drop small cylindrical objects onto the ground, which began spewing white gas upon impact. The gas filled the nostrils of all those still alive, their eyes watered and their throats began to burn.

It was tear gas.

Celeste was barely able to see. The flash grenades, then the tear gas made her barely able to do much more than hack and cough, let alone fight back. But she had her ability to sense the force, and so reaching deep within herself attempted to clear her mind, clearing her eyes and removing the chemicals as best she could before she saw Fett stand over a kneeling Aayla, who was even now coughing and rubbing her eyes with her hands, levelling a blaster pistol right at her.

He fired.

The beam slammed into Aayla's chest and she was thrown back, landing on her back and rolling onto her side before lying there, unmoving. Celeste forced herself to her feet, calling her lightsaber to her with the force and igniting it with a smooth motion. Her eyes simmering as she raised the blade over her head and attempted a hoarse war cry.

He spun around, raising his blaster at waist level.

"Damn you, Mandalorian!" she sputtered in anger.

He fired a round, and it slammed into her thigh, sending her spinning to the ground. Pain did not meet her, but instead there was a feeling of numbness, as if every nerve in her body had been charged with enough electricity to render her incapable of movement. She fell onto her side, attempting to rise but unable too. She struggled and struggled before it hit her.

She hadn't been shot by a blaster bolt.

She had been hit by a stun bolt. It was the far future after all, so she guessed blasters may have been adapted from her time till now to be able to fire both killing beams and stun bolts. She looked up in time to see the Mandalorian lift Aayla up with little effort and sling her over his shoulder, checking her pulse with his free hand and nodding to himself before looking back at her.

His jump-pack activated, sending him and his captive high into the atmosphere, out of the opening high above, over the edge and out of sight leaving a mass of dead corpses and stunned bodies behind. Ko and Valkier were still trying to stand, but they were still groggy from the combination of flash grenades and tear gas, and wouldn't be able to catch them. Crys and Ratty were moving down the rampway, but neither was capable of giving chase to, let alone defeating, a Mandalorian. That left her, and she was stunned.

Celeste slammed her left hand into the decking, growling in anger as she looked up to the toxin filled sky. He had her, she was defenceless, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Even with healing meditation it would take her precious minutes to remove the shock of the stun blast from her system, and by then he would be long gone.

"Get to the com," Ko ordered sharply to Crys who was already running up the ramp. "Contact the others, tell them Aayla's been captured! Mez get Celeste inside and get ready to take off. I don't want to be here when the authorities arrive."

It was a well-thought-out choice, Celeste knew, none of them were able to follow Aayla or her captor and the only others who had the slightest chance of getting her back were in the other group, but even then the Jedi knew that the chances of them finding her were slim to none. She had only known Aayla for a short while, but she knew a good person by instinct. She was kind, strong, courageous, a defender, and a protector. Aayla was someone who thought of her fellow sentient being before herself. She had only known her for a few days, but that was her appraisal.

The man in black armour, flowing black cape and lightsaber the colour of blood crept into her memory, even as Mezgraf lifted her up and carried her to the _Uhumele._If he got his hands on her, what would he do to her? If only she were stronger, if only she were faster, if only she was at her best instead of just recovering from shellshock.

She could have ripped that young Mandalorian pup apart.

She would have seen the mercenaries coming, instead of being in a daze while she was aboard the ship. Aayla was capable and strong, but she was also young, impetuous and had just gotten over a similar traumatic experience to her own. A fine Jedi she was, but she wasn't nearly as experienced.

If the others couldn't find her within five hours then she would be lost.

* * *

Fett landed on the oval shaped roof of a high block of flats, checked his jetpacks fuel gauge, and with a deep breath activated it again, sending him into another propelled leap to the next structure. He still had a long way to go before he got a safe distance from the space port, and a long way to go before he felt he was a safe distance from any pursuers.

The only other person who looked capable of following him was that black haired woman, the one who wielded a lightsaber much the same way as the Jedi who was even now held over his shoulder, unconscious and oblivious to her fate.

Many who looked at Boba Fett without his armour would consider him to be too young for this kind of work. Even his fellow Mandalorians, who had been trained in the warrior arts since they were able to walk, would consider him too young for such assignments. He was only thirteen years old after all. The armour he wore, his father's armour as an adolescent was still a little too big for him to wear.

He would endure though. He had been a ten year old boy when he witnessed his father being murdered before his very eyes, on the arena floor of Geonosis three years ago. The day when the Clone Wars began was the same day his father had fallen, fallen by the blade of a Jedi Master. Ever since then he had trained continuously in his father's peoples arts, learning the warrior ways of the Mandalorian and preparing for the time when he would enter such a world.

He would become a great Mandalorian warrior like his father. No, he would become better than his father, a Mandalorian whose name would be edged in history, and through that the clan name of Fett would be remembered.

He landed on the roof of the next high rise building, and very nearly lost his balance, almost dropping his unconscious quarry to the streets far below. He moved at the last second, grabbing her wrist before she slipped over the edge and holding it with an iron grip. She was still unconscious, unknowing that she was teetering on the edge of death as he pulled her back onto the roof with great physical effort.

It was only then that he got a good look at her.

By whatever higher powers above she was beautiful.

She was also a Jedi.

Of the same ilk that murdered his father within that arena that still haunted his nightmares.

So he shook his head, dismissing any fantasies of a pubescent boy as he hauled her over his shoulder and activated the jetpack on his back, sending him rocketing through the air towards the next structure on his journey. He landed without much difficulty and surveyed the area, looking for the next building to jump to.

He was completely unaware that a single figure was following him with the utmost secrecy, keeping to the shadows of the skyscrapers as he kept pace with the young Mandalorian warrior. An un-ignited lightsaber hilt was held in his right hand as he watched, waiting for the right moment to strike.

* * *

_"__Uhumele __to ground crew, do you read me, over?"_

Schurk blinked at the sudden, near hysterical voice which broke through their end of the comlink, and looked over at the other three members of his party before moving to the side and tapping his own personal comlink to receive. "Ground team to _Uhumele_, is something wrong Crys?"

"We were attacked by bounty hunters and their hired muscle, at least two dozen of them." She replied with as calm a voice as she possibly could. "They overpowered us, but then a Mandalorian came in and-"

"Calm down Crys," Schurk soothed through his comlink; "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

There was a moment of silence, probably for the pilot of the _Uhumele_to take his advice and regain her breathes before continuing on any further. When her voice returned to the link it was a little calmer, but still seemed a hairsbreadth away from becoming frantic once again. "I'm sorry Captain, but we were attacked by bounty hunters."

"What's the situation," Schurk urged calmly. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Mezgraf took a hit to the shoulder and Celeste got one in the thigh. They're both stable. Most of the bounty hunters are dead as well, but a Mandalorian came in and took Aayla from right under our noses." She replied.

"A problem?"

They all turned to see the Colonel walking over to them, letting his men continue loading all of the supplies into the freighters which were even now taking off through the makeshift hanger bay doors. Dass turned to the Colonel and motioned him over. "Our ship was attacked by bounty hunters, and they made off with one of our friends."

"Which one?"

"The other Jedi in our group," Naruto said gruffly as he shrugged off the crates he was carrying and looked over at Dass. "I'll look for her."

"You can find her?"

"I lived with her for a few months in Felucia. I know her scent as if it was my own."

"Her scent?"

Dass sighed as he turned, "Naruto here isn't your regular human being. His five senses have been tuned to near ten times the sensitivity of most humanoid sentient beings. If it's someone he knows he can probably track them by scent alone."

"He can catch a person by their scent on a city planet with a population of nearly twenty billion?" Cristo raised his brow in disbelief.

"We won't know until I give it a try," Naruto bit out before pumping chakra into his legs, preparing for a leap. He got off to a running start, taking ten steps before leaping high into the air, landing on the shattered remains of a large window sill and swinging his way through the opening, out of sight.

Cristo watched the empty space for a while before turning to Jennir, "Are you sure he isn't a Jedi?"

"Quite sure," Dass replied.

"Tell Crys to move to the secondary point," Schurk said to Bomo who nodded and began speaking into the comlink.

* * *

Naruto landed on the ground and began running down the side alley, his nose already sniffing the air for any sign of the scent he was looking for. His senses alone were not up to the task, but if he tapped into his prisoners demonic chakra and allowed it to seep into his nostrils then he would be able to gain the sense of smell of the Kyubi no Yoko, and the sense of smell of a tailed beast was at least a hundred times better than that of anything else.

His nose went through so many smells that his human mind was struggling to keep up, yet he persevered until he found the scent he was looking for, an unmistakable scent which was Aayla's, desert flowers of some kind. He had never smelt such a thing before he met her, but he knew deep down in his mind that it had to be the smell of a flower, and considering the planet where she was born was a non-rotating desert world then it would have to be a desert flower.

"Crys, do you read me?"

He waited a moment, and allowed a sigh of relief when she responded. _"Loud and clear Naruto, what do you need?"_

"I need to know what Aayla's kidnapper looked like. Can you tell me?"

"_I can do better,"_ she replied. _"Do you still have that band I gave you?"_

He looked at the small metallic band around his wrist, with a small bowl shaped engraving. "Yes?"

"_There's a small button on the left side, silver. Can you see it?"_

"I think so." He replied.

_"I'm sending security camera footage now, press the button."_

He did so, and watched as a holographic image came to life over his wrist, so sudden that he nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. He took a deep breath, thinking about yelling at Crys for not telling him what the band was, but putting it aside as he watched the footage. It was without colour, being only in greys, whites and blacks, but he knew that the figure before him would be easy as hell to spot.

"Crys," he said as he watched the footage, memorizing the figure before him before shutting it down. "I could kiss you right now.

"_You're not my type."_ She laughed in response before becoming deadly serious once again. _"Get our girl back, Naruto."_

"You don't have to tell me twice." He replied before pumping more chakra into his legs and jumping high in a leap, aiming for one of the smaller rooftops high above.

* * *

Fett jumped back, just missing the slab of broken concrete by mere millimetres before turning his attention back to his attacker. He fired three bolts of blaster fire, watching as all three were effortlessly deflected by the cloaked figures emerald lightsaber blade.

The enshrouded figure had attacked out of nowhere, throwing several roof tiles right at him, one of which slammed into his torso while he was in midflight and sent him spinning off course. The Twi'lek Jedi had been thrown from his grasp while he was spinning, and as he hit the ground he looked up in time to see her suspended in midair, with the cloaked figure with his hand outstretched just a few feet away from her.

Another cloaked figure had appeared, and the first one had allowed the female to float unharmed into the arms of the second. The moment the second one had her he, or she, vanished into the shadows, leaving Fett alone to deal with the original assailant. He tried to follow, but a few more slate roof tiles shattered at his feet, and he was forced to backpedal to avoid another two.

Now he was fighting for his life against another force-sensitive opponent. He dived away from another duo of tiles, falling into a roll and back on his feet as he spun around and fired another four shots from his blaster pistol, all four were once again effortlessly deflected.

Then his opponent was on the move, rushing right at him, lightsaber blade spinning with finesse as it deflected and blocked his blaster fire. Fett was reminded of watching his father's final moments on Geonosis as the force-sensitive advanced, all those years ago and still fresh in his mind's eye. Fett was not his father though, and being a clone trained in combat since infancy had its advantages.

He activated his jetpack, launching himself into the air and out of the force-sensitive warriors reach, aiming down with his blaster pistol and squeezing the trigger. Another four bolts volleyed down to strike the enemy, all of which were once again deflected before his opponent jumped high in pursuit thanks to a force leap.

Fett couldn't see his enemies face. The hood and the night sky held enough shadow to keep him concealed, but he guessed that the man fighting him was human or near-human, just by seeing his gloved arms as he weaved his lightsaber with expertise borne from years of training and more years of combat.

The young Mandalorian watched as the emerald blade effortlessly cut his blaster pistol in two, midway along the barrel. Releasing the now useless weapon, he used his other free hand to deactivate his jetpack, allowing gravity to save him from being sliced in half at the waist. He reached into his second thigh holster, drawing another pistol, aimed and fired.

This one wasn't a blaster pistol.

It was a single shot grenade pistol, capable of firing a single grenade of any type at the enemy. Sadly he hadn't equipped himself with any deadly grenades for this mission, preferring to take his targets alive. The Imperial agent had been lying. The bounty for the female was a hundred thousand credits for her dead, but a hundred and fifty thousand for her alive. She must have slighted some well connected Imperial for the agent to leave out that piece of information.

The pistol fired a flash grenade right into the cocky bastards face. The explosion would have blinded him if it wasn't for his helm, and the t-shaped visor which dimmed the very millisecond the grenade detonated. His armour may be old, but it was still one of the best suits of combat armour in the galaxy.

He landed hard on a rooftop. The air was wretched from his lungs from the impact, and as he forced himself to roll over he noticed that his weight had cracked the concrete tills under him. Pain lanced through his body from the impact, and it took him a few precious moments to be able to control his breathe. He cursed inwardly at how inexperienced he still was.

His father would have fired off his jetpack to soften the blow.

He managed to make it up to a knee and look up at where he had fired his flash grenade. The force-sensitive was nowhere in sight, and he allowed himself a breath of relief before realisation on his situation dawned on him. He had lost his bounty.

"Nice try,"

He froze, blood pounding in his head as he looked up to see the hooded figure standing over him, emerald blade of his lightsaber activating with a _snap-hiss_before being pointed to within millimetres of his bullet-shaped helm. Fett tried to think of something to counter him with, but any offensive movement he would make would have been met with a lightsaber blade through his visor.

"Care to tell me why you had my former apprentice hung over your shoulder, like some war trophy?" the man asked as the blade came a millimetre closer to his visor.

He heard a hiss, and only noticed that it was the locks of his helmet coming undone when it was wrenched from his head and tossed aside, showing his face to the man who had bested him. He hesitated, before lowering the blade ever so slightly. "A child, the Mandalorian Death Watch is using child soldiers now?"

Anger boiled within Fett at the mere mention of that separatist faction of his father's people. The one's who were responsible for so much of his late parents suffering. He hated the Jedi first and foremost. The Death Watch was a close second. "Do not speak of them in front of me if you value your life!"

The blade was so close to his face that he felt its overwhelming heat against the skin of his nose. "Do not get smart with me, youngling. You were about to carry off someone precious to me to a death sentence. You're lucky I'm not the type to slaughter children."

"Then what are you going to do to me?"

"I haven't decided yet," the man replied.

"I'll make the choice for you," Fett responded as he activated his jetpack, using the momentum to slide him off the roof and to the dark back alleys below. Before the Jedi could follow he threw two small grenades onto the roof, watching as the smoke bombs detonated and covered his escape with a thick layer of black smoke.

He managed to land roughly on the cracked concrete of the side alley, sliding for several feet before being forced off them into a roll and back up to his feet again. Then he was running, labouring under the weight of the armour but still running none the less.

He rounded a corner, then another and was about to run through another before an arm made contact with his exposed neck, slamming into his Adams apple and sending him to the ground with a painful thump. The air was knocked from his lungs, and as he attempted to roll to his side to breath he felt a foot kick him with enough force to put him back onto his back, a foot landed on his chest, keeping him in place while a blaster pistol was pointed for his forehead.

Fett looked over the muzzle of the blaster pointed at him to see a tanned human with spiky blonde hair and whisker like markings on his cheeks.

"Yep! You're my guy, alright," the blonde said in an even voice with an almost playful smirk.

"Who are you?" Fett managed before the foot slammed onto his chest hard, forcing the air from his lungs for the third time in five minutes. He opened his eyes to see that his captor's expression had darkened noticeably.

"You're **my** prisoner, punk! I'll be the one asking questions, here," the man growled out gruffly before sitting down on his chest with such speed that the young Mandalorian had seen only a blur. There was such weight on him that he could barely breathe. He tried to move his arms only to discover that he could not. When he looked to see why, he saw that the blonde was not only sitting on his chest, but was also using his knees to pin his arms to the ground.

Fett then heard a quick grind of metal, bringing his attention back to the face in front of him, only to almost poke his own eye out at the pinpoint of a knife barely a millimetre from his exposed right eyeball.

As the big blonde man looked him dead in the eye, Fett saw something…something that he wasn't expecting. These were the eyes of a warrior; of a man who had seen countless battles, and was in some cases probably the only person to walk away from them. These were the eyes of a man who knew no fear on a battlefield! His eyes were the eyes of…a Mandalorian? No…not a Mandalorian; something more, if that was even possible. Not even his father had such a battle-hardened look in his eyes!

Boba Fett, in the short time he'd been bounty-hunting, had already killed a few Jedi, and wasn't afraid of facing any opponent, knowing that given enough time, he'd be able to find a weakness in even a Jedi's defences and be able to exploit it. Seeing these eyes, he knew that if he were to ever engage in combat against this man, he'd stand no chance at all. He found himself unconsciously holding this man in very high regard, and began to feel great respect for this…whatever kind of warrior he was.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as the blonde spoke, "Tell me where my friend is or you start losing body parts one at a time, starting with your eyeballs."

And for the first time that Boba Fett could remember, he felt something else in addition to respect for this man: terror.

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author Alert 2: **__A big thank you to ncpfan for acting as my Betareader for this chapter. He did a few corrections and added a little bit of his own writing finesse at the end which I thought was cool. He says he'll be happy to take on the Betareading role, and I am happy that he is aboard._

_**Author Alert 3: **__I got a bit of flak in adding Sasuke into the mix, and I will admit that it left me a little surprised. In the Prologue of the story I said that Sasuke was trapped in the same seal that Naruto was, hence I implied that he may be making an appearance of some kind in this story. I understand some people didn't want me to add Sasuke into the mix, but it was always an idea of mine that he make an appearance in this story, how much of a role he will play is still up in the air._


	17. Reunion

_**Chapter 16**_

_**Reunion**_

"_So someone else took her?"_

Naruto sighed before looking down at the small holographic figure, about twenty centimetres tall, standing on his wrist. He was amazed by how lifelike the spectre before him was. As long as one discarded the simple fact that the only colour accumulating from the hologram was an amber hue and the occasional flickering which distorted the form it looked like Crys.

"Looks like it," the blond replied. "By the look of this kid, he was just in a fight and he was forced to retreat. He told me that two people, hooded and cloaked, ambushed him on the rooftops. They took Aayla from him and fought him off."

"_Are you sure we can trust his information? He is one of the bounty hunters out for her blood, after all."_

"Believe me, Crys," Naruto replied. "When I get serious I can be pretty persuasive."

Her lips quirked up into a small smile, _"I'm sure you can, but he is a Mandolorian. They don't break easily from what I hear."_

"An adult maybe," the Shinobi shrugged. "But this one's a kid; tough kid, but still a kid. I doubt he has the mental fortitude to withstand one of my people's interrogation methods."

"_Interrogation?"_

"We were soldiers, Crys," the blond pointed out.

"_Can you still follow her scent?"_

"It's faint…" he replied as he took an experimental sniff, "…but yeah, I think I can still follow it, and if not, I'll just follow her chakra signature. The only active signatures on this planet are mine and hers, so it shouldn't be too hard to do."

"_Then do that voodoo thing you do and get moving."_

"You're getting pushy these days, aren't ya?" Naruto smiled before his features turned into a frown, "How are the others doing?"

"_Mezgraf is stable. So is Celeste…though she's blaming herself pretty badly at the moment."_

"Tell her not to worry," he replied, face as sombre as stone, "I'll bring Aayla home. Naruto out."

Crys nodded before her hologram fizzled out with a snap, leaving behind nothing but darkness as his communicator went offline. He turned his head, watching his captive with a harrowing glare before turning fully to face him. The runt was propped up against the wall adjacent, arms and legs immobilised by steel wire, not easy to break from. A few meters to his left, in a pile, was all of his equipment, blaster pistols, jetpack, grenades and his helmet.

The child glared right back at him before scoffing lightly, "Special interrogation techniques? A knife to the eye is not a special interrogation technique."

Naruto shrugged, "Simple yet effective. The trick is in making the captive think you're going to do it."

"So it was a bluff?" Fett snarled.

"I didn't say it was," Naruto replied with a gaze which would melt steel. He then began walking to the end of the side alley, seemingly ignoring the Mandalorian.

"Hey, you're just going to leave me like this?" the teenager snarled in barely restrained fury.

"I don't need to," Naruto replied as he placed his hands behind his back in his traditional uncaring pose. "You cut those wires two minutes ago when you used that wrist mounted blade of yours. Tell me: do all Mandalorians have one?"

He spun around, hand flying up with blurring speed in time to grab the wrist of the mercenary before his hand got anywhere near him. Naruto smirked at the look of rancid rage on the boy's features. There was anger there; a LOT of anger.

"Those gloves too. They're capable of crushing anything from bone to metal, CrushGaunts; isn't that what they're called?"

"How do you know that?" Fett asked, his anger now coupled with suspicion.

"The friend you kidnapped has been teaching me plenty about the galaxy." Naruto grinned then, eyes narrowing. "Can't let those gauntlets touch me, can I?"

He used the boys own momentum against him, sending him over his shoulder in a Judo toss and slamming him to the ground with enough force to make the air leave the boys lungs. He then jumped back, narrowly dodging the wrist-mounted blade by a hair's breadth before landing in a crouch and drawing a kunai from his wrist-mount.

"Come on, punk," Naruto growled as he narrowed his blue eyes in a feral manner, "I'll show you how a _real_ soldier fights!"

Fett jumped to his feet and rushed right at him, stabbing out with his wrist-blade in repeated attempts to impale the man before him. Yet every time he tried to stab him, the tall man would dodge his strikes with perfect timing, sometimes sidestepping, sometimes leaning back, sometimes ducking, sometimes just bending over backwards or rotating his body at unnatural angles. Fett found himself getting more and more frustrated at the blonde, whose mocking smirk never left his face as he made evading Fett's attacks look so easy.

As the Mandalorian attempted to turn his stab into a horizontal swing, Naruto once again used the young man's momentum against him, grabbing his arm and slamming him back down to the ground courtesy of another Judo toss. The boy had talent Naruto had to give him that. He also trained hard, Naruto could see that as well…but his movements were still jittery and sloppy, and he frequently overextended himself when attacking with that wrist-blade of his. He also let his rage get the best of him far too easily and quickly.

"Why do I see such anger in you? Where does it come from?" Naruto questioned as the boy got back to his feet, shakily, but still stubbornly determined to continue the fight, his eyes burning pits of dark, simmering flame as he glared at his blonde adversary.

"It comes from looking at you," the boy snarled as he began inputting commands into a wrist computer before aiming his arm right at him, a barrel popped up and fire spewed from the miniature flamethrower, encompassing the cramped side alley and burning everything in its path. "It's because a warrior like you is a friend to a Jedi! **A **_**Jedi**_**!**"

The gouts of flame ceased, and all that remained was a side alley, caste aside rubbish burning and walls blackened. But there was no body, no traces that a sentient being had met his end here. The smell of cooked meat did not reach the young Hunters nostrils. Fett soon realised that he didn't even hear a scream.

"I see, so that anger of yours stems from the Jedi does it?" He heard the blonde ask, turning in the direction the voice was coming from, only to be met with the heel of his palm to his jaw, sending him falling to the ground in a heap. The blond human stood there, not even singed by his flames.

He was on him in a heartbeat, legs pinning his arms as he sat once again on his chest, a hand grasped onto his flamethrower and with a hue of blue light tore it from its wrist-mount. Fett could do nothing but watch as the man casually inspected the sparking scrap of what was once his weapon before idly tossing it over his shoulder.

Naruto turned back to face the raging eyes of the young Mandalorian, "What could the Jedi have done to receive such hatred from you?"

Fett growled up at his enemy, knowing that the man was stronger than him and that he couldn't get out of his grasp through muscle. He was pinned, and he couldn't move. His breathes came and left in gasps, eyes narrowing and becoming feral, mind overcome with a need to fight as he shouted out, "They killed my father!"

His blade slid out of it's sheathe as he was just able to break that arm free from the man's grasp. The young clone was just able to see the widening eyes of his opponent before he jumped back, missing his blade but allowing Boba to jump back to his feet and rush into the offensive. All the while shouting and roaring at him.

"They killed him like some nobody, taking his head off and leaving him where he fell. He was the only family I had and they took him from me," he yelled as he lashed out with as much speed and power as he could, watching with satisfaction as the man was forced to draw one of his knives to continue blocking and deflecting his strikes. Yet that satisfaction fled him the moment he saw his face, not an ounce of worry or fear, but a stony expression.

Fett continued shouting out accusations against the objects of his hatred as he continued assaulting the man before him, "The Jedi murdered him on Geonosis and I won't rest until all of them are drowning in pools of their own blood!"

"Revenge is not the way, son…" Naruto said plainly, looking into the boys eyes and seeing other faces. He saw Sasuke, family dead, eyes full of hatred: first at his brother, then at his village. Then he saw himself, standing over a burning wreckage of Konoha, bodies everywhere with eyes of crimson and a face distorted in rage. He added regretfully, "…I know that all too well."

"Shut up!" Fett roared as he continued his advance, running, stabbing; attempting to overwhelm his opponent through sheer force and speed, "What do you know of my pain! What do any of them know of my pain! The Jedi sat there on their towers while the galaxy burned! You stand there like my better, what do you know!"

"Everything," Naruto replied, and the look in his eyes made Fett hesitate for a moment, eyes of a seasoned soldier, and eyes of a broken soldier, eyes of a dead man or someone who at one time wished for death. "I know everything."

"I don't believe you," he said, his hesitation carrying into his voice as he stabbed out, putting all of his weight into the thrust, only to see his assailant sidestep the potentially lethal strike. Fett did not allow himself to stagger, but continued running, circling around his enemy before jumping in again, reeling back with his sword arm and lancing out. The man simply stood where he was, eyes closed. It infuriated him even more as he shouted out, "You know nothing of my pain!"

His wrist-blade grinded to a halt as it connected with the blond mans knife in a hail of sparks. "You know nothing of what I went through! You don't know what it feels like to be all alone, to lose everyone! You don't know!"

There was silence. The blond man didn't reply, and then something happened, something which brought a chill to the young Mandalorians spine. The air went cold, and then became heavy. Fett found himself frozen in place, unable to move as the man before him opened his eyes to pierce that same gaze Fett saw when he first met him. The gaze of a soldier who had lost everything, who had experienced battles of such savagery that it would be unimaginable. There was something more to the gaze, something truly terrifying. Fett looked into these eyes and saw loss, true inconsolable loss, coupled with anguish that he couldn't even begin to measure; it might have given his pause to think if the blonde's eyes hadn't changed colour from blue to red and developed slit-like pupils.

"What do I know? You arrogant, little Mandalorian punk!" With a sudden movement he put his weight into the stalemate and threw Fett's arm into the air. His free hand reached out, grabbing his wrist-blade and holding it there. Blood soon streamed down the man's hand, but it wasn't his hand which lost the exchange of flesh against steel. Boba watched with awe bordering on dread as his blade cracked, then shattered under the man's grip.

When Fett returned his gaze to Naruto's own, he saw a man who was as angry if not angrier than he himself was, "You lost your father? It was war, boy! And your father chose to participate in it! He died because his opponent was a split second faster than he was! It's tragic, but that's war! And in war, it's kill or be killed!"

"Shut up," Fett ground out.

Naruto's own voice lowered, but took on an ominous tone, "It wasn't personal, kid. They were just two warriors on opposite sides; that's it!"

"Shut up."

"Do you know how many Jedi died on that field, that blood soaked field?" Naruto asked, voice low yet carrying such anger. "Two hundred Jedi went in, less than twenty came out."

"Shut up!"

"You think you're avenging your father? Your father's killer was likely just avenging the comrades that he lost at your father's hands! That's war!"

"Shut UP!"

"And once you've had your fill of vengeance, how long is it going to be before someone comes seeking vengeance from you, huh? WHEN DOES IT END?"

"**SHUT UP!"** Fett roared as he tried to draw his hold-out blaster from the hidden compartment in his sleeve, but Naruto, moving faster, grabbed his arm and forced it to the ground with enough force for the small weapon to fall from his grasp and slide just out of his reach. He tried to reach for it, but it was no good. It was too far.

"Do you know what it feels like to know your parents died to protect you?"

His eyes met the eyes of the blond man before him, and widened at the deadness of them, the lack of any life other than sorrow beyond what a normal man should feel.

"Do you know what it feels like to see your friends die in front of you?"

There was also anger, a lot of anger. It wasn't in his voice, or his demeanour. It was all in his eyes, blazing pools of fiery-red which held such fire that Fett knew he would be burned if there was any actual heat. Then the anger exploded from his voice and his demeanour, like a pressure cooker which had been beyond its limits for far too long.

"Do you know what it feels like to hold the woman you love in your arms, telling her that it will be alright when you know that it won't? To watch the life drain from those beautiful lavender orbs while you tried to tell her that it will be alright? Do you know? **DO YOU?**"

Fett felt the weight lift from his chest, and jumped back to his feet in time to see his enemy standing right before him, eyes simmering with a mass of emotions he could barely comprehend. There were unshed tears in his eyes before he violently shook his head, dispelling them. When he looked at Fett again his eyes were once again azure blue his gaze cold, hard, and steely.

He spoke in a tone that was just as cold as his gaze, "I am Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan, Jōnin of Konohagakure. I am a Shinobi; the last of my kind." He said those words with great conviction. "Maybe when you think like that you will know my pain, and Aayla's pain. Her people teeter on the edge of extinction, just like mine do."

Fett looked into this man's eyes, feeling that it would be dishonourable to look away, and saw this man for what he was. A man who had fought wars and battles beyond his imagination, who had survived by the skin of his teeth, and sometimes been the only survivor of them, someone who watched those most precious to him die in his arms and was unable to do a thing about it.

"Kid, you need to learn that as rough as you've had it, there are people who've been through a lot worse," he said at last with a sigh, looking up at the stars for a moment before meeting his eyes once again. "You're young. You have a life ahead of you. You might meet a girl, fall in love, and have a family. I'll give you this piece of advice: cherish those you love. Do not abandon them or forsake them, because in doing so you waste your life and you may ruin the lives of those you leave behind."

He moved in a blur, and Fett didn't know what had happened until he was on the ground, body curling into a fettle position as the pain from his punch to the stomach took its toll. The hit was at just the right point, immobilising him. He was just able to look up at the blond-haired man as he looked down at him and said a few simple words.

"Your father died, kid. In war, people die. It's tragic, but that's war."

He knelt down beside Boba Fett as he continued with a firm yet understanding posture, "Don't ruin your life over revenge, son. I doubt your father would want that, and the Jedi who killed him is probably dead already."

"He is," Fett managed.

"Then someone has taken your revenge for you," Naruto replied as he stood up. "Don't aim your revenge at those who had no part in it."

"But your friend was there," he rasped.

"I know, she told me." Naruto replied with a smile, a sad smile. "But she was nothing more than a soldier following orders. And sometimes she wakes up at night crying out the names of her friends who died in that coliseum. You're looking for revenge in the wrong place and honestly, she's suffered enough."

He began walking away from Fett's prone form, for all the fight had left the aspiring young bounty hunter. He watched the man's retreating back for a moment before he spoke, "Wait…please…"

Naruto raised a surprised eyebrow at this boy's sudden humility. Fett continued, "Naruto of the Uzumaki Clan, Jōnin of Konohagakure, the Last Shinobi. My name is Boba Fett, son of Jango Fett, of the Tribe of Mandalore! You have earned my respect as a warrior this day!"

Naruto simply nodded in acknowledgement to Boba's declaration. Boba then asked, "This Jedi woman, what is she to you?"

His step faltered, but only for a moment before he started walking again as he answered, "A precious person. _T__he_precious person."

"She is a Jedi," he replied from his prone position, still unable to move, "She cannot return your feelings."

"I know," Naruto replied simply. "But I'll protect her to the death regardless."

The look in his eyes as he uttered those words, half turned to face him, told Fett that this man was not making an idle response when he spoke them. Those words were something that he would put his life on the line to accomplish. He would protect that woman until his dying breath.

Naruto turned around to address the young Mandalorian once more, his own eyes gazing at the boy with mutual respect, "See you around, Boba Fett, son of Jango Fett, of the Tribe of Mandalore."

He raised his hand in farewell before vanishing in a blur, leaving Boba to ponder his words.

* * *

Schurk watched as the _Uhumele _slowly entered the large bay doors of the Rangers new location. It was a warehouse located on the other end of the sector, nowhere near as large as their original hideout. At least thirty men and women were rushing back and forth, carrying equipment to where it needed to be, either for usage now or into storage.

Apparently it was one of several such smaller locations that their benefactors had set up just in case their original storehouse was ever compromised. Besides the _Uhumele,_which was only now settling down in its berth, there were two other ships of similar size, a YT-1300 freighter and a Z-95 Headhunter.

"Any word from Naruto yet?" Schurk looked over to his crew. Dass and Bomo were a few feet away from him, obviously discussing their current predicament.

"Yeah," Bomo replied with a frown. "He caught the hunter who took her, but apparently someone beat him to the punch. He's still sniffing around."

"Other bounty hunters, maybe?" Schurk asked thoughtfully.

"They don't think so," Bomo said as he looked over. "Whoever took Aayla from the hunter used a lightsaber, so he guessed it was either a Jedi or some other force-sensitive."

"It could be the other Jedi Cristo was telling us about," the Captain pointed out hopefully.

"Or it could be one of those Inquisitors the Empire's been recruiting lately." Dass frowned before sighing heavily.

"That too," Bomo agreed, looking over in time to see the _Uhumele __se_ttle into its berth, engines dying down to a hum as its landing ramp lowered. A handful of men moved over to give aide to the crew. "Come on. Let's see if we can help."

Dass and Schurk nodded before following the small Nosaurian over to their ship, seeing Mezgraf and Celeste being helped down the ramp by Ko and Ratty before being handed over to the approaching Rangers for treatment. Crys came down next, a wide eyed and scared little Resa held in her arms. The girl was looking at everything, little clawed hand gripping Taanzers sleeve tightly before she saw her father.

"Daddy," she whimpered as Crys let her down.

She literarily jumped into her father's arms. "Are you alright sweetie?"

"She's fine Bomo," Crys consoled as she kneeled down beside the two. "Just a little jumpy after what happened."

"She's going to be alright, right?" the child asked worriedly as she looked up to her father. It was obvious who she was talking about.

"Don't you worry, sweetheart," Bomo consoled his daughter softly. "Naruto's out there looking for her right now."

She sniffed, but nodded.

"That's a fine ship you got there." The crew looked up in time to see a Ranger walk up towards them, dressed in gray fatigues, a utility belt carrying tools and a small blaster tied securely around his waist. He was human and young with curly brown hair and tanned skin. He extended his hand to the Captain, who took it in greeting. "The names Turk, boss says we should do you guys a favour with your ship."

"Schurk-Herren," the Captain returned before frowning. "What does your boss want to do with my ship?"

"Changing the transponder codes, frequencies, access codes, give it a new paintjob, change the identification plates and possibly the name if that's alright with you." The young engineer replied as he looked over the _Uhumele_from where he stood with a critical eye. "Boss says you guys have had a few too many run-ins with the Imps; you can't be too careful."

"He's right; we have…" Schurk allowed, eyes narrowing slightly, "…but…how much will this favour cost us?"

"Nothing," the kid replied with a wave of his hand. "The boss says that bringing a few more Jedi to us is more than enough for us to do at least this much. We've been trying to set up an underground with other resistance cells sympathetic to the Jedi, to save as many from the Imperials guns as we can."

"Thank you," Crys piped up with a smile. "It'll be just what we need."

The kid blushed ever so slightly, hand reaching up to absently scratch his chin as he smiled back and spoke. "Don't worry about it, least we can do."

"And he'll start on it now," Cristo called as he approached the group, a bandaged Serena following him as he walked. The woman's shoulder had been bandaged by bacta wrap, but she kept a brave look on her face as she remained by her commander's side.

"Yes boss," Turk snapped a salute before spinning around and beginning to walk briskly towards the ship, passing a glance in Crys direction before beginning to call for his crew.

"He likes you," Bomo teased lightly.

Taanzer gave him a wry look before shrugging, "Not interested."

"Thank you for repairing our ship," Schurk bowed his head lightly to the Colonel, who waved him off.

"Don't worry; least we can do." Cristo smiled lightly before looking right at Dass, "I have my men aiding in looking for your friend. If she is _the_Aayla Secura then we'll have to find her before the authorities. There's a rumour that she's become one of their main targets now, something about a run-in with their new Supreme Commander and surviving."

"That was a close call."

"So it's true?"

"More or less," Dass nodded as he scratched the back of his head, "We survived by the skin of our teeth, there."

"Sounds like an interesting story."

"Interesting, yes, but some of it you might find very hard to believe."

"When Jedi are involved, it often is," the Colonel chuckled dryly, "We can arrange a meeting between you and the Jedi already here if you like."

"We would be indebted to you." Jennir bowed his head slightly as he spoke. "May I ask who the Jedi on this planet are?"

"Three Masters like you." Cristo replied before scratching the back of his head, "Jedi Masters Tholme, Tra'saa and Vos."

"Vos," Jennir muttered thoughtfully before it clicked, "Quinlan Vos?"

"The one and the same," the Colonel replied.

"Who's he?" Crys asked.

Dass looked over at her for a moment before answering, "Aayla's former Master."

* * *

Aayla awoke slowly, her frayed senses slowly coming back to her one at a time. First it was her sense of hearing which slowly came back, though her only way of knowing this was the constant drip of water hitting a solid surface. The next sense to return was her sight, also slowly, beginning with a dark blur before other colours began separating themselves from the dark, finally ending when her eyes focused with clarity.

She didn't know how long she laid there on the floor, and she wasn't aware of where she was until she had regained her senses enough to know of her surroundings. She was in a small room, walls coated with cracked and worn paint, with a floor of equally worn and stained timber and a ceiling with large damp patches. Water was dripping from one of those patches across the room, and the sound of said drips of water could be heard once every few seconds.

The young woman in her thought about panicking to her situation, whereas the Jedi in her urged her to calm down and assess her surroundings. The Jedi won, thankfully. She raised her head with great effort to see that a blanket had been placed over her body. She attempted to raise an arm, and was only able to do so with difficulty.

Immediately Aayla dispelled the notion that she was dead, although her last memories of being shot at point blank by a mercenary made her cringe ever so slightly. Her mind assessed the situation quickly, taking in the slowness of returning senses and the numbness in almost her entire being.

They were textbook cases of being hit by a stun bolt.

Her memories of the event continued to flood in, and she began worrying about her comrades on the _Uhumele_. They had been at the mercy of bounty hunters and their hired thugs, and some of them had managed to get behind them. Crys, Ratty and Resa had been captured, Ko and Mezgraf had been ambushed from behind, Mez had been shot in the shoulder. They were at their mercy. Then another hunter had jumped in, killed the others, and used flash grenades and tear gas to incapacitate them before turning on her.

She hoped they were alright.

The return of the memories brought with them other questions. Was she still in the hunters clutches, or had he deposited her to his benefactors and left her to her fate?

Footsteps caught her attention, echoing as they struck the worn wood. She tried to look in the direction of the source, but her body was still so numb. Not one limb obeyed her mental command to move. She was completely at the mercy of whoever else was in this room. Aayla hated it: the idea of being helpless.

A hand came within view, four fingers and a thumb encased in a black leather glove. The palm made contact with her forehead, fingers closing in around her skull, and she attempted feebly to break free, knowing that it was a wasted effort. A voice broke through her fog, not angry but aged and full of authority.

"Hold still."

She complied without complaint, and hated herself for it, idly thinking of how they were going to torture her for whatever information they wanted before disposing of her. Then she felt it. The numbness in her body began to recede, from her head down to her shoulders and beyond. She began to feel her limbs again. The fog around her mind, hampering her efforts, began to lift. It took her a moment to realise what he was doing.

It was a type of healing meditation, one which aided an injured comrade, a technique that only a seasoned Jedi Master was able to accomplish. It took a few moments for her mind to completely clear, and only a few moments more before she completely felt all feeling in her limbs.

The moment the healing was complete the stranger released her from his grip, but remained where he was, kneeling beside her as if waiting for her to turn and face him. Aayla hesitated a few seconds, still getting used to the return of her senses, before she turned her head to see the face of the man who removed the effects of the stun bolt from her system.

She gasped.

He wore the traditional Jedi clothes, a cream-coloured tunic, brown pants, a dark cloak with the hood lowered. His weathered features showing him as a human in his later years. His wrinkled face and sharp dark eyes, trimmed black hair which was just in the process of turning gray, a scar over his left eye, running diagonally from the left side of his brow to the right side of his cheek.

She would have recognised him a mile away.

He was the Jedi Master who finished her training, and the one who was the teacher to her first Master. Aayla fought past the last strains of numbness as her hands reached out to cup his face, eyes widened as she fought with all her might to contain her tears. He smiled at her gently, allowing her hands to roam his face without a word of complaint.

Her words came out weakly, "Master Tholme?"

"Aayla," he said in reply, true happiness in his voice as he smiled at her.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" A hand placed itself gently on her bare shoulder before pinching her exposed skin. "Owe!"

"Apparently not," he smiled.

She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and digging her face into his chest. Tholme, surprised at first, smiled and wrapped his arms around her in response, returning her embrace. His playful smile gave way to a frowning expression. "You seem a little too thin Aayla."

She laughed shakily before she finally broke away from him, lifting her hands to unconsciously wipe the unshed tears from her dark eyes. "I'm sorry master, I couldn't-"

He raised a hand, stopping her, "I thought we taught you better than to apologise for your own feelings, my girl."

She smiled as she unconsciously wiped the last tear from her eyes. "I suppose you're right."

He grinned this time, before rising to his feet and dusting off his knees. "Wait here; there are some people who want to see you."

He stood and walked to the door at the other side of the room, and she sat there for a moment before deciding otherwise. She rose to a kneeling position, testing the feeling in her left knee before bringing her right knee up in a similar examination, sure that they were ready and already in a crouch she straightened them, bringing herself back up to her full height.

She took a single step, and stumbled, only to be caught by a pair of slender arms. "I swear, my dear, didn't he tell you to stay where you were?"

She looked up in surprise, before her features relaxed into a soft smile. The woman before her, so much older, was as beautiful as she remembered. Her cool dark skin and thick strands of wood which looked a great deal like hair. The way she dressed with a simple yet elegant classical Jedi robes, just like Master Tholme, cream-coloured tunic, brown pants but with a pair of dark brown Jedi robes, heavier than her last Masters cloak.

She held Aayla steady as her legs collapsed, and slowly lowered her into a kneeling position so that the younger woman could catch her breath. Stun blasts always carried such nasty side effects with them, such as a temporary loss of strength of limb and breathe. The woman was beside her the whole time, calmly patting her back. "Master Tra'saa."

Tra'saa smiled warmly before hugging the younger woman. "You're alive, thank the Force."

Aayla was surprised for a moment at the Neti Jedi Masters lack of protocol before shrugging it off and returning the hug, happy that there was one more Jedi that survived Order 66. She didn't know how long they were like that before a pair of shadows blocked out the light of the corridor beyond the room.

Aayla looked up, eyes widening at who she saw at the frame of the door.

He hadn't changed, at all. His skin was still tanned, more so than Naruto's, black hair braided into dreadlocks which fell beyond his shoulders, yellow stripe across the bridge of his nose and dark, piercing eyes which were widening in joy right at her. He dressed in a black tunic, pants and a dark cloak just like Master Tholme. He stepped forward, narrowing the distance between her and Tra'saa within a moment. He fell to his knees, embraced her tightly and held her.

"Aayla," he said as he hugged her. "You're here, aren't you?"

She smiled, and hugged him back, breaking out into deep sobs as it hit her that this was no dream! Her three friends and teachers were all here, right in front of her, hugging her and letting her know that they were really here, as solid in flesh and blood as her.

It was the greatest feeling imaginable; a feeling that she had all but given up hope in knowing again.

"Quin," she croaked, hesitating for a brief moment before digging her head into his shoulder and allowing a loud, powerful sob to shake her very being. "Quinlan, it is you, right? I'm not dreaming or anything?"

Quinlan Vos, taken aback by his apprentices sudden tears, smiled softly and returned her embrace, making sure that his forehead touched hers as he spoke those few words that she needed to hear above all else.

"It's me Aayla, I'm here."

* * *

"Right, she's definitely somewhere around here," Naruto frowned as he closed his eyes and centred himself, allowing his chakra to encompass the area and look for the chakra signature that he had been seeking for the last hour or so.

He had narrowed it down to this very spot, using his shadow clones to aide in his search before once again picking up and following his kidnapped friends trail. It had taken a while, but he had found what he had been looking for. The only question now was: In which building she was being held? Then he would need to take her captors by surprise and knock them out of the fight before they could try and use her as a hostage.

He sighed before falling into a cross-legged sitting position, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, frowning as he relaxed his thoughts and attempted to find that relative centre of peace to activate Sage mode. After a brief moment he found his ideal mindset and activated his technique. In a blink of an eye his chakra sensing abilities rose sharply.

He found her within a moment, three buildings to his left at the other side of the street, fourth floor, third room. He deactivated his Sage mode with a thought before jumping to his feet and running across the rooftops until he was standing across from the building, looking over at the tall structure across the street, right at the window of the room where he sensed Aayla's chakra signature. It was boarded up.

He wasn't surprised, this entire estate seemed to be almost completely abandoned save for a handful of homeless and a few groups of thugs. He guessed this area must have been a residential area at one point before something happened, and whatever happened had left quite the mark. Some buildings had been burned out. Many others looked like they had sustained enough damage for their windows to be boarded up.

That didn't matter to Naruto at the moment. He took several steps back, took a deep breath and broke out into a run, pumping chakra into his legs before throwing himself off the roof. He flew through the air, bringing his feet up so that they would collide with the wooden board between him and his friend. His feet connected with a crack as the wood gave way and he flew into the darkness of the room beyond, falling into a roll which brought him up to his feet.

There was silence, and then a flurry of _snap-hisses_drew his attention to the area around him. There were three figures in the room, two men and a woman and they all carried ignited lightsabers in their hands, two azure blades and one emerald humming in the low light. Naruto in return allowed a kunai to fall in his hand thanks to his wrist launcher.

"Who are you?" the woman asked firmly.

"A friend of someone you kidnapped," Naruto replied just as firmly.

"Naruto?"

He blinked, and then looked behind the central figure. Aayla shakily got to her feet, allowing the younger male to give her support before waving at him. "It's alright, these are friends of mine. You can put that kunai down."

A tense second passed before Naruto sighed and put his kunai away, in response the three Jedi hesitated for a moment more before deactivating their lightsabers and putting them away. He gave Aayla a slightly annoyed look as he checked her over. She had been crying. After a moment more he straightened, put his hands to his hips and blew out a breath.

"I swear, are there any times when you are kidnapped that you are _actually _kidnapped?"

* * *

_**Author Alert 1: **__Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order._

_**Author Alert 2: **__Thank you to ncpfan again for the betareading. He did a great job in that department, and also added a little of his own flare during the Naruto/Fett scene which just made it better. It appears that things have begun to go a lot smoother now that I have a second opinion in a writer. It just feels that much better to have someone go over it, make improvements and give it back._

_**Author Alert 3: **__In the next chapter the Uhumele crew finally begin negotiations with the Rangers, Aayla's master sits her down and Naruto will be getting a very big 'meet the parents' vib._


	18. The Heart of the Matter

_**Chapter 17**_

_**The Heart of the Matter**_

"I swear are there any times when you are kidnapped that you are actually kidnapped?"

She smiled and laughed a little sheepishly at that, to the surprise and amusement of the other Jedi present.

"Ermm…sorry?" she squeaked out as she brought a finger up to her mouth in a very demure, girlish way.

"I mean, come on…" Naruto started, as he began to speak and move in a ridiculously exaggerated manner, "…will I ever be able to play the hero saving the damsel in distress?" as he stood in his gallant hero pose, giving a thumbs up, teeth glinting as he gave his dazzling "nice guy" smile.

'Thanks for that one, Bushier-Brow-Sensei…' he thought to himself, '…I never thought that would come in handy.'

Aayla appeared confused at this, "You already did, remember that whole talisman issue, with Vader and Celeste?"

"That's different; I was basically saving three people," Naruto countered mildly in what appeared to be complete disappointment before continuing his "heroic" tirade, "I mean, when do I get the chance to save you, by yourself, with nobody around, and then carry you off into the…" he paused as the word "sunset" almost came off his tongue, thinking back to Might Guy.

'Oh no…' he quickly thought to himself in near-panic, '…there's NO way I'm traumatizing her with that god-awful sunset on the cliffs that Bushy-Brow and Bushier-Brow-Sensei used to hug in!'

"The… sunrise?" Aayla offered in an attempt to help Naruto finish the line of thought he was expressing.

"Yeah-that's-it-the-sunrise-the-sunrise…" Naruto finished quickly, nodding goofily with a smile that was a bit too big to be believable.

Aayla raised an eyebrow at this before answering cautiously with an almost-nervous smile, "I suppose I'm…just lucky…" she finished with a nervous chuckle.

Naruto was about to respond, but he stopped as her overall expression and posture began to make themselves known to him. She seemed…lighter, somehow…as though she had been able to rid herself of all of the anguish and grief that had been crushing the warm and caring spirit that he associated with her. He had seen her smile before, but it never seemed to come very easily – as though joy was something that was very hard for her to feel. Now, however, she seemed to be smiling without any effort or reservation…and she was even being playful. It was as if…she was now the person that she was always meant to be. Naruto found it to be…enchanting! He narrowed his eyes as he studied her with a smirk.

"Something happened…" he said knowingly, trying to bait her in. She blinked before frowning in thoughtful confusion as she regarded his probing gaze.

"What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously, seeing that mischievous glint in his eye. Well, she wasn't taking the bait!

"There's something very different about you," Naruto replied as he relaxed and smiled, "Like the weight of the world has been lifted from your shoulders."

She blinked again, this time with an expression of confusion mixed with surprise, "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Naruto replied, his smile taking on a faraway quality as he looked into her eyes, "It's…actually…quite beautiful," his own voice taking on an airy quality as he seemed to forget the rest of existence.

She blushed at the way he complimented her, and blushed even deeper as she noticed how he was looking at her. Becoming self-conscious, she turned her head this way and that in an effort to collect herself.

'Blast it all, I took the bait!' she thought to herself in exasperation, not realising that the bait had fallen off the hook quite some time ago. Looking down and a bit away from Naruto, she said in a flustered fashion, "You…you shouldn't…say such…strange things, Naruto."

"Hmm?" asked Naruto, now himself confused, "Why is what I said strange?"

An exaggerated cough startled both of them. Turning to the sound that brought them out of their own little world, they saw Tholme with his hand to his mouth and a single raised eyebrow. Tholme then asked the question that was on his and the other two masters' minds, "Aayla, who is this?"

Aayla blinked a moment before the question registered in her mind; she hadn't introduced him to them yet! She looked to the older Jedi Master, and then at Vos and Saa, both looking on with amused curiosity. Feeling her cheeks flush even more, she began to sputter out, "Oh…err…where are my manners? Apologies, masters…" she said with a bow as she continued, "He's a very close friend…and the man to whom I owe my life."

Naruto, in an effort to give Aayla a chance to collect herself, took over and stepped forward, "The names Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki," he introduced himself with a slight bow, "I've been Aayla's travelling companion for the last half year or so."

The younger human stepped forward, "So you're the one who's been taking care of Aayla during these hard months?"

Naruto nodded humbly. The female of the group stepped forward and bowed to him. Naruto noticed that the strands of what he thought were dreadlocked hair on her head were something else…something a little more solid, wood maybe?

"You have our sincere thanks. We are deeply indebted to you for the care you have shown our young sister," the woman said, in a sincere and calm voice that sounded very different from the firm tone that she had used upon seeing him for the first time.

"No thanks are necessary. It was my pleasure, believe me," Naruto responded as he raised his hand in a gesture of deference.

He then looked over to Aayla, who had seated herself in the only chair in the room, "So, I'm guessing that these people are friends of yours. Fellow Jedi?"

Aayla smiled and nodded, rising to her feet, "They're more than that…much more. Naruto, allow me to introduce my dear friends, Jedi Master Magus Tholme, Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, and Jedi Master T'ra Saa." Each of them bowed their head in greeting as the young Twi'lek introduced them.

"Tholme…Vos…" Naruto allowed the names to roll off his tongue as he tried to remember why they sounded familiar to him. As it hit him, he whipped his head around to look at Aayla.

"Your former teachers!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Indeed," she confirmed as she nodded.

"No wonder you look so relieved," Naruto said with a smile. "You thought these guys were dead."

She couldn't keep herself from beaming with happiness.

"That's great," Naruto replied sincerely, "I'm glad to see you so happy, Aayla! I'm also glad that we've found more of your loved ones!"

'Loved ones…' Aayla thought in wonder. It was true; they were the people that she considered family. To call them loved ones would be an accurate way to describe them. She was brought out of her musings by a mild disturbance in the force. She, apparently, wasn't the only one who felt it, either. The other three masters also responded…and…Naruto as well? She noticed out of the corner of her eye that he turned his head in the same general direction that the other three masters had turned theirs.

"We should continue this conversation elsewhere," Saa spoke up, looking around with a frown. "I feel several presences skulking around."

"As do I. Bounty hunters?" Tholme asked, taking a gentle hold of her arm.

The female Master could only nod in response.

"Alright, we can continue this later," Quinlan nodded before turning to Aayla. "Can you walk?"

Aayla took a deep breath and tried to walk around the room, only for her strength to fail her after a few steps, causing her to fall to her knees. She scowled and grunted in frustration at her lack of control, but before she could try again she was lifted up as easily as one would lift a kitten. Naruto smirked as he carried her bridal style, "I got her."

Vos frowned for a moment before nodding his head, "Very well, can you keep up with us?"

"I'm no slouch," Naruto replied with a smile.

"Even so…" Quinlan continued, before Aayla cut him off.

"It's alright," she piped in. She wouldn't allow just any man to lift her in his arms like this, but Naruto wasn't a normal man to her. Their time living and fighting together had given her enough experience to be able to trust him with her life, and much more.

She continued, "He can keep up. He has abilities that are similar to our own."

"Similar abilities?" Vos frowned, before looking up at the blondes grin.

"We'll explain later…" he promised, "…after we get to safety."

Vos frowned for a moment before nodding his head, "Very well, but if you can't keep up then let us know."

"Will do," Naruto nodded.

They were off in a heartbeat, the Jedi hopping onto the windowsill of the busted open window before taking off in force propelled leaps, landing nicely on the rooftop where Naruto had taken off from before. T'ra Saa was first, then Tholme, then Vos and finally Naruto with Aayla in his arms. As he hopped up onto the windowsill, he stopped when he heard her speak.

"I hate being helpless," she muttered.

He looked down at her and smiled, "Don't you trust me?"

She gave him a wry look. "I trust you with my life, but I still don't like the feeling."

"You mean… after all that stuff I said to you about playing the hero and rescuing my damsel in distress…" Naruto gasped in mock-shock, followed by saying in mock-hurt, quivering his lower lip for added effect, his tone changed into one of mock-horror, "…YOU DON'T WANT ME TO BE YOUR HERO?"

Aayla face-faulted at this, raising her hands and shaking them back and forth, "no, no, no, no, that's not what I meant…"

Naruto chuckled, letting her know that he wasn't being serious. She scowled at him, having taken the bait once more.

"Don't worry," he replied as he stopped laughing and leaned down to her ear, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, no matter what."

Aayla blushed at his words, her breath catching in her throat and her heart suddenly beating faster. He had such conviction when he spoke of protecting her from harm. She started to respond almost unconsciously, "Naruto, I wooooooooowww!"

As she began, he pumped chakra into his legs and jumped the long breech between buildings with next to no effort, landing in a crouch on the other rooftop. The suddenness of the jump left Aayla a little disorientated. The three Jedi looked back at the two with gazes which were a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

Naruto looked up with a smile, "I said that I could keep up with you couldn't I?"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Vos spoke in an ominous tone, "We'll need to talk, later".

"O…K. I understand," Naruto replied, "I will answer as honestly as I can, within reason of course…"

"We are wasting time," Tholme interrupted urgently.

"Indeed," T'ra Saa agreed as her eyes remained closed, brow furrowed as she concentrated. "The hunters will be on our trail."

"Then let's move," Naruto nodded his head, "Lead the way."

The Jedi nodded before taking off, rushing across the rooftops in force propelled runs and leaps. Naruto followed with Aayla, running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop with chakra propelled speed, easily keeping up with the three Jedi masters just a little ahead of him.

"Naruto," Aayla managed, looking up at him, "What about the others?"

"Oh…right," the blond replied, almost faltering in his step but managing not to through sheer experience on the move, "I need to get in touch with them and let them know you're safe. I'll do that once we're able to stop."

* * *

The united sigh of relief echoed across the small office that the Uhumele's crew was cooped up in. Dass was in the centre of the huddle, miniature hologram receiver activated on his wrist showing the twenty-centimetre-tall, amber-hued form of Naruto Uzumaki. Schurk, Crys, Ratty and Ko were peering over his left shoulder while Mezgraf and Celeste, Bomo and Resa were looking on from his right. He had to sit down to allow some of the more diminutive in stature to get a look.

Naruto smirked as he looked at the scene, _"Feeling cramped, Dass?"_

"Well now that you mention it-" the Jedi master began before being interrupted by a squeal of joy which almost popped his eardrum. Resa was hugging her father as tightly as her tiny form would allow, smiling and laughing in obvious relief and joy.

"Auntie's alright, Auntie's alright," she recited over and over, unaware that everyone in the room were checking their ears to make sure they hadn't been popped; some were smiling, though.

Naruto grinned before his features morphed into a teasing tone._ "When did Aayla become 'Auntie'?"_

"She's been calling Crys that too, and she started calling Celeste that yesterday," Bomo informed him with a shrug, "Don't think much about it."

"So let me get this straight," Ko cut in after a moment. "She was kidnapped by a bounty hunter, only for him to be ambushed by her former Master?"

_"Pretty much,"_ Naruto shrugged.

"And the first time we met when she had been supposedly kidnapped by that child eating psychopath she had already freed herself by the time you arrived?" he continued on, sending an apologetic look to Bomo and Resa, knowing the bad memories that particular incident brought up.

_"Yup,"_ Naruto shrugged once more.

There was a moment of silence before the Blood Carver sighed, "That's girls luck must be incredible."

_"That's what I said,"_ Naruto agreed with vigorous nodding, _"I mean every time she gets kidnapped she either frees herself or has some brilliant lucky escape or rescuer whichisn't me…"_ a few of those listening caught the disappointment in his voice, knowing that Naruto had a bit of a hero complex,_"She must have done a lot of good before I met her because this could only be her karma."_

"What is karma?" Bomo asked, ideally opening up a new topic of conversation. The two other adult females of the group didn't seem to like the idea of being termed damsels in distress. Naruto appeared oblivious to their silent fuming.

_"The idea of karma is that if you do something good, good things will happen to you, and if you do something bad, well…bad things happen to you."_ Naruto explained as he folded his arms and nodded to himself. _"I think that's the easy version of it."_

"That's a very simplified way of looking at things," Dass muttered.

_"I like simple,"_ Naruto replied lightly, sighing into the air._ "It's my blanket of comfort in a world of insanity."_

"We're getting off topic here," Celeste said, sighing in annoyance.

"She's right," Crys added before giving Naruto a look, "Where are you all know?"

_"We're in a safe house, not sure where yet, but we'll let you know." _The blond replied, before looking over to his right for a moment, as if listening to someone just out of the holograms hearing distance, nodding his head he turned back to them with a sheepish gesture. _"I'm afraid I'm going to have to hang up. We'll be in touch in a day or so. Until then, sit back, relax, and let those Rangers do their job."_

"He sounds like the Captain now," Bomo sighed.

"He really does," Schurk agreed.

* * *

"You were lucky you weren't hurt, you know," T'ra Saa scolded in a motherly way.

Aayla gave T'ra Saa an apologetic look as the Jedi Master concentrated; hand on the younger woman's forehead as she worked to remove what little remained of the stun bolt. By the time she was finished, all feeling of weariness and numbness had vanished and Aayla stood up, testing out her legs one at a time before walking to the other side of the small room and back.

"Feel better?" the Neti Jedi Master asked.

Aayla turned, smile in place as she nodded her head. "Thank you Master. I feel much better."

"Good to hear, child," the older woman smiled in response as she sat down on a chair and motioned her to take the other one across from her. Aayla strode across the space between them, pulled out the rickety old chair and sat down.

"Where are the others?"

"Quin is checking up on Khaleen, and Tholme is having a chat with your companion." T'ra answered as she leaned her arms on the table. She saw Aayla's inquisitive look at the mention of her former Master's lover. Only a select few within the Jedi Order knew about Quinlan and Khaleen, and of those few, only the three Jedi now present knew she was with child.

"Mother and child are both healthy and doing fine," T'ra Saa continued, "They named the boy Korto, and he is growing up very fast. I think he plans on bringing them here."

"That's wonderful to hear," Aayla smiled, happy to hear that the birth had passed without incident.

"I'm guessing Khaleen will want to see you with her own eyes." T'ra Saa continued as she leaned back into the chair. "Plus Quinlan will want his boy to meet his godmother."

The title surprised her a little. Quinlan had asked her if she wanted to be his godmother but she asked if she could have time to think about it. With her supposed death she guessed he had chosen someone else, maybe the woman across from her, to be Korto's godmother. She scratched the back of her head, smiling a little in embarrassment, "I'm not sure I'm worthy of such an honour."

T'ra Saa sighed before fixing Aayla with a calculating look, a look which cracked within a second of her putting it on. She was so happy to see the young woman alive and mostly healthy that she was incapable of giving her even an annoyed look, "Maybe you'll change your mind when you see him."

"Maybe," Aayla allowed, bowing her head slightly.

"So tell me about your friend," Saa said, quickly switching topics.

"Naruto?"

"Mm-hmm," she intoned, placing her chin on her palm as she relaxed and listened with a knowing smile.

"We've been travelling together for the last six months," she began, thinking for a moment before nodding her head, "He's from a force-sensitive order called the Shinobi, and is what they call a Jōnin. A rank which would roughly be equivalent to a Jedi Master, I think. He's strong, and if it wasn't for him I would probably be dead by now."

"He's a friend?" she asked.

Aayla smiled softly, "Yes, a very dear friend."

The older woman's smile grew a little, before becoming serious. "Are you sure he isn't a spy or a Dark Acolyte?"

"Oh, I'm sure," she replied with absolute conviction, and at the Master questioning look she verified. "He isn't working for the Sith. I trust him as much as I trust the three of you."

"Do you, really?" Saa asked, in surprise, before posing another question, "But how do you know he's not an enemy?"

"He defeated Darth Vader," she answered, "Plus, he has had plenty of time and many chances to either kill me or turn me in, neither of which he has done."

T'ra Saa nodded, sighing in relief, "You know I'm only asking this because I care for you."

Aayla nodded, "Yes Master, and thank you for caring."

The Neti looked at Aayla closely, with a gaze so intense that the younger woman couldn't help but fidget, after a few tense moments a small smirk graced the older woman's lips, which slowly turned into a knowing smile. The younger woman waited for a moment before breaking the silence, giving her old friend a piercing look.

"What?" Aayla asked, desperately needing to break a silence that she was finding very uncomfortable.

"You like him," She smiled serenely.

Aayla frowned thoughtfully, "Of course I like him."

"No, no dear. You misunderstand," T'ra Saa waved her hand dismissively; eyes closed and face as calm as a mother, "I mean you really…really…like…him," making a point of pausing between each word.

Her frown remained for a few moments, before realisation on what the other Jedi was implying dawned on her. Her cheeks darkened and her eyes widened, not in denial but seemingly in embarrassment and shock, "Well... I um... I-"

The Master's smile grew as she said knowingly, "I knew it the moment you started talking about him."

"I'm not that transparent," she whispered, more to herself than to the smiling woman across from her. She glowered at T'ra Saa for a moment, covering her face with her hands. "Yes, He's strong, kind, compassionate, knows right from wrong-"

"Handsome," the Neti ventured teasingly.

Aayla half glared at her for a moment, before sighing heavily and relenting. She replied in a small voice, shy and timid and not like the Aayla she remembered at all. "Yes, handsome."

"Ah," the Master hummed thoughtfully.

"What am I going to do, Master?" Aayla asked, pleadingly.

"What do you feel when you are with him?" she asked, forcing her smile down.

"When I'm with him?" She asked.

"Yes dear, when you are with him."

"I feel…" Aayla took a moment to collect her thoughts so that she could properly express feelings that were very new to her, "…happy and…carefree," she replied, sighing as she smiled wistfully, "His mere presence makes all of my worries and troubles seem meaningless. His hair is as radiant as any sun, his eyes are deeper than the deepest ocean on Mon Calamari."

Aayla started looking off into space, almost forgetting that she was actually talking to T'ra Saa, "His voice is like comforting and soft music to my ears. His laughter is so wonderfully soothing. His smile…oh, his smile…it makes my heart flutter and my head feel…dizzy. When I'm with him…every sensation and experience is just…so much richer; it's like colours are brighter and more vibrant, sounds are more…varied and melodic; even my food seems to taste that much better when I'm eating it with him. He makes me feel... makes me feel..."

"Like your floating on air?" T'ra Saa asked in a manner that was as wistful as Aayla's own, her smile having only gotten wider.

"Yes…" she breathed, before putting a hand to her chest, looking down at her lap as her wistful smile became a saddened and pain-filled frown, "…but recently…I feel something painful, like tightness in my chest. Sometimes it hurts."

She was silent for a moment, not interrupting the younger woman, waiting for her to continue. She didn't have to wait long. As Aayla looked up to meet the Neti's gaze, tears began to fall from her eyes, "I think I'm falling in love with him."

T'ra Saa hadn't lost her smile at this admission. She simply reached her hand out, placing it over Aayla's own and gently squeezing it as she responded, "I think you already have, dear."

"What am I going to do?" she asked pleadingly, desperately looking to the older woman for an answer that made any kind of sense to her, "We're Jedi; we're not supposed to feel like this."

T'ra Saa shook her head, stood up, walked around the table that separated them and taking the younger woman's hands in her own gently pulled her to her feet, placing her forehead against Aayla's and closing her eyes. She immersed herself in the force, and allowed the current to flow through the two of them, her own energy probing the younger woman's torrent of doubt and the split in the road which lay before her from the choices of love or duty.

T'ra Saa was considered one of the oldest and wisest of the Jedi Order. She had trained many outstanding Jedi during her life, one of her greatest pupils being the former second chair of the Jedi High Council, Mace Windu. She had mastered many elements of the force during her long life, one of which was the art of precognition, to be able to glimpse into the future and see bits and pieces of a potential life. The ability was not one of her strongest, but if the recipient was willing then it was possible.

"You will be forced to choose," she said simply, eyes remaining closed, ignoring the young woman's sudden stiffening, "If you choose duty over love, he will continue to follow you. The two of you will fight together, and become the closest of comrades and allies. Your adventures will be many and the perils you face great, but through it all, he will stay with you, he will fight for you and, if necessary, he will die for you."

Aayla's eyes widened in horror, "Die for me?"

"It is just one of many paths, and nothing is decided," T'ra Saa soothed, "If you choose love over duty, the two of you will face many trials, joy and sorrow, love and loss, tests which will bring you both to your absolute limit, but if the strength of your bonds holds out, if you continue on with no fear, then the two of you will heal each other's wounds."

Aayla sighed heavily as the two of them parted, the strength of the much older woman leaving her. Her eyes fluttered open to be met with the dark orbs of T'ra Saa, searching through hers.

"So I will have to choose?" asked Aayla with great trepidation.

The Jedi Master nodded, "Yes."

"But what about the code? I've been raised by the Jedi Code. It's…a part of me," she muttered, still feeling unsure; no…unsure was not the word. She was scared, frightened…terrified even…by these new emotions she had rarely felt before, and never so strongly. For so long her refuge had been in the Temple with her fellow Jedi around her. That had been stripped away, and now she was feeling things she might not have felt otherwise.

Jedi Master T'ra Saa had never been a great follower of the Jedi Code. Among her fellow Masters she was seen with respect and revered for her wisdom, but she was also known to be rebellious, as was shown through her relationship with Tholme. Her lover was as much a maverick as she was, both willing to bend, or even break, a millennia old set of rules and tradition. Quinlan Vos, Tholme's apprentice, had inherited that rebellious nature and distaste for the rules, but Aayla, who had apprenticed under them both, did not follow that trait.

She had broken the cycle, choosing to follow the code instead of breaking it. Now, though, the Jedi Master saw flickers of doubt, surfaced by her foundations crumbling around her. She once again took the young woman's hands in her own, looked down at her. Aayla was pretty tall, but T'ra Saa was a full head taller.

"Love is not something to be thrown away, child," she said firmly, "but the decision to love another is not a decision that you can be forced to make. I will not make you, neither will Quinlan or Tholme. The decision is yours, and yours, alone. We can do little more than advise."

She heard a sigh, and both looked up to see Quinlan Vos leaning against the door frame on the other side of the room. His eyes were focused entirely on her, but before Aayla could say a word he had pushed himself away from the frame and began stalking towards her. He looked dead serious and not in the mood to dawdle.

He was in front of Aayla, hand reached out to press the back of her head. The foreheads of both Master and Apprentice met, the searing eyes of Quinlan Vos meeting the surprised ones of his former pupil. Finally he closed his eyes, breaking eye contact, and sighed heavily before opening them again and flashing a fatherly smile.

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Master?"

"I thought I taught you better than that," he scolded lightly, taking her right hand and pressing it against her chest. "I taught you to think with your heart as well as your head. You're so desperately clinging to the guidelines of the Order that you're ignoring what this organ here is screaming at you."

Tears once again threatened to break free from her eyes, but she shook her head violently, feeling her heart thump a pounding, harrowing beat which echoed through her ears. "Master, I-"

"Aayla," he cut her off, and she looked up, tears flying by the suddenness of the motion. His eyes were soft and fatherly, and his smile was warm. "What do you feel for him?"

"I... I," the words wouldn't come. She wanted to say that he was just her friend, but her voice refused to work. The young woman was so surprised by what she said instead, timidly and quietly, a faint whisper, like she was saying something she wouldn't dare say, "I love him."

Vos smiled knowingly as he asked, "Err…what was that? Couldn't quite hear you."

Her eyes widened, and then it hit her. When she said those three words the tightness in her chest dissipated, the worries she had, once so overwhelming, now seemed to trivial. She repeated the words, still meekly, but with more strength, "I love him."

"Still couldn't hear you…" Vos teased.

"I love him," she said a little louder.

"I don't think T'ra Saa could hear you…" Vos teased further.

"I love him," Aayla said again, louder still, but…

"Oh, for the Force's sake woman, tell the entire galaxy the truth you've only told us! DO IT NOW!" Vos ordered with such conviction and command that Aayla obeyed before she even thought about it.

"I love Naruto Uzumaki!" she cried out those words without shame or hesitation, unable to keep them bottled up any longer. She couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time now that it was out, and she could no longer lie to herself about her feelings.

"There, see? Was that so hard?" Quinlan asked as he smiled, and then stepped to the side. A shadow had fallen across the room, blocking the light from the corridor beyond. Aayla looked at the figure blocking the light, and her eyes widened in shock at the man she saw watching her, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide from a very real and sudden surprise.

Naruto stood in the doorway.

Vos placed a hand on the arm of T'ra Saa, leading her from the room and allowing the two of them some privacy. The older woman was giving him a harrowing look, but she did not resist. Naruto, still surprised, was just able to register their presence and step out of the way. Both Masters left the room, leaving them alone.

"Naruto," she whispered his name, taking a step back, horrified, embarrassed, frightened, overwhelmed, and feeling a slew of other emotions that she would never have any hope of identifying, "I..."

He was already walking, and by the time she had uttered the second word he was standing over her, looking down at her with a gaze she had never seen in his eyes before. His arms slowly wrapped around her waist, pulling her slowly to him. She did not resist, too shocked and numb by all of the events occurring in the last few minutes to put up even a weak resistance.

Aayla could do nothing but stand there, glassy eyed, as he leaned down, his mouth sealed over hers for a kiss. She went rigid for a moment, but it was just a moment before the sensation of the contact swept over her, like electricity had suddenly coursed across her skin and through her veins. She leaned back, closed her eyes and relished in the feeling.

Naruto closed his eyes, his body moving on autopilot as he kissed the woman who at one point he had thought of pushing away, but now, seeing her like this and hearing her heartfelt words he couldn't control himself. He was willing to tempt fate one last time. If it meant being with this woman, he didn't care if some malicious god decided to strike him down the moment their lips parted.

Ironically remembering how Grandma Tsunade took that one last chance and gambled on him, Naruto Uzumaki now found himself standing in her shoes, willing to take one last chance…and bet it all on the love that he had developed for this amazing angelic creature in his arms; Aayla Secura…his most precious person, more precious than Grandma Tsunade, more precious than Sakura. Dare he say it…even more precious than his beloved Hinata.

He actually found even greater irony in this situation: as a child, how many people had regarded him as a demon or a monster? As an adult, how many people began to regard him as some sort of god, putting the responsibility of saving them all squarely on his shoulders? In either case, "human" was a label that nobody ever seemed to give him. How ironic, then, that the greatest love of his life was a woman that wasn't human at all? Yes…he was willing to tempt fate one last time, or maybe it would be more accurate to say that he was willing to accept the plate that fate was handing to him…

* * *

_**Author Note 1: **_Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts respectively, and I make no profit for writing and uploading this story.

_**Author Note 2: **__So I finished this chapter a little later than I did the last few updates, that's the reason why it's been uploaded a little later than the current standard time. Big thanks to ncpfan for reading it through and sending it back so quickly that it took me two days to notice. We've gotten a little routine going now, I do the template and the main story, send it to him who beta-reads it as well as adding in a few additional things to make it more epic, sends it back to me who re-reads it and makes a few additional changes, if needed, then it is uploaded._

_**Author Note 3: **__I was actually planning on the confession to come later, but half way through this chapter I made a decision to just go ahead and do it, all of the necessities were in place, and it just seemed right. On a different note we are nearing the threshold, all we need is another 59 reviews to immortalise this story into the 0.2 percent of epic stories in Naruto that make it over 1,000. I'm speechless, thank you to everyone who has read, and reviewed this story, coming to a total of 109 C2's, 1525 favs, and 1505 alerts._

_I am speechless, and humbled, very humbled._

_Seriously_

_Thank you_


	19. The Heart of the Matter II

_**Chapter 18**_

_**The Heart of the Matter II**_

Aayla was in a daze.

That was the best way to describe it, almost like she had so much joy in her life in the span of a day that it threatened to overload her system. It was strange that she felt this way, considering the day had started so horribly wrong. First there was her reunion with her Masters, people that if she were to categorize them as a family would be her father, grandfather and mother.

Quinlan Vos, her first master, who had nurtured her and taken care of her during her early years, definitely fit the title of a father figure. He taught her, was there for her and in some instances could be overprotective of her. He saved her from the clutches of a Dark Jedi when she was still in her teens, before deciding that he had become too emotionally attached to her and too emotional himself. So he passed her on to his own master to complete her training.

Magus Tholme, her second master, was every bit the paternal grandfather figure. He was the eldest male, wiser, calmer, and full of such wisdom and knowledge that he seemed to radiate experience. When people were around the man, they couldn't help but feel that if he spoke, it would greatly behoove them to listen. He was stricter on her than Vos, but he cared about her just as deeply, and he soon became just as protective of her as Vos had been. He had taught her so much, had played the role of the caring sage so well that she would always see him as her grandfather.

T'ra Saa, while never officially her master, had taught her almost as much as Tholme and Vos put together. She and Tholme were always together, whether they were at the temple or on missions, and she became a staple presence in her life: a badly-needed maternal figure to the then young and impressionable Twi'lek. T'ra Saa taught her how to cook, how to look after herself, how to conduct herself as a lady, and taught her more about politics and negotiations than either Vos or Tholme would ever be capable of teaching her.

The woman was the oldest of the trio, perhaps in the top five of the eldest in the order. Not surprising with a little research. Her people, the plant-like Neti were known to be notoriously long lived, some living well into a millennia. In that respect she would probably be considered quite young, three maybe four hundred years old.

She had met them again, touched them to be sure that they were actually there, and had wept in pure joy at seeing them alive and well. That was the first good thing that had happened to her this day, and she would have been content with it.

The second thing to come her way was considerably more personal, and it happened largely as an after-effect to meeting her former teachers again. They had forced her past her fears and boundaries, had seen through her hastily-raised defences that she tried to use to shield herself from her burgeoning feelings for a certain blond human man. They helped her see what she was really feeling, though she felt that it was a little unfair that Quin had made her shout out her feelings like that, but the end result was... acceptable.

She smiled ever so slightly. Who was she kidding? The result was more than acceptable. It was bloody brilliant. It was wonderful! Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine experiencing what she was right now!

Her lips still tingled from the kiss, and her mind was just regaining its primary motor functions after nearly half an hour of the most tender and peaceful moment of her life. They did not make love, for she was still far too scared to even think of going that far. The two of them simply lay on a worn sofa, her weight being propped on Naruto as she lay on him, listening to his steady heartbeat and sighing in elation as he traced paper light circles on her arm.

She felt her lekku curl in contentment as Naruto placed a light kiss onto her cheek, and then caught her lips in his when she turned her head up to look at him. His eyes were completely on her, almost as if he were trying to immortalise this moment in his memory. That gaze made her feel so secure, and safe.

He placed his hands under her armpits, and pulled her up gently until they were laying face to face, her still on top of him as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. She sighed, closing her eyes and settling her chin onto the crook of his neck, taking in the smell of his lightly scented skin as well as his locks of sunshine hair. He kissed her on her neck, tracing them from her shoulder all the way up to her chin, up her cheek and then next to her ear.

He whispered into the cone shaped ear, husky yet with a slight tinge of teasing, "We're going to have to go out some time."

"Mm," she hummed softly, more than happy to allow these precious moments to continue on forevermore, "Just a few more minutes."

She didn't care that her voice came out as a half whine, half plead. He kissed her again, right on the lips before sitting up and smiling sheepishly. "How protective is this Master Vos to you?"

"Like a father, why?" she asked lazily.

"Because I have the feeling that I'm being glared at," Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head.

Aayla, rolling to his side as he sat up and now on her back, smiled and laughed lightly before mirroring her loves motion, sitting up straight and leaning against his shoulder, enjoying the feeling as he placed an arm around her and held her close, his head on top of hers.

"Sage help me, I've dreamed about this moment," He whispered softly.

"So I wasn't the only one?" she raised her brow at that, smiling up at him cheekily before nuzzling into his side, "I'm glad."

He kissed the top of her head, a hand running along her left lekku which sent a shiver through her, unconsciously making her head-tail gently curl around his hand. He raised his hand, and kissed her flesh, making her shiver happily at the contact, "Always wanted to do that too."

"Mm," she managed before looking up at him, ocean blue locking and holding chocolate brown. "Most humans feel a little uneasy when they see how much our lekku move."

Naruto smiled as he traced another few kisses up and down the tail, "I'm not most humans."

Aayla shivered again. The Lekku were definitely one of the most sensitive spots on a Twi'lek woman's body. Those organs which extend her brain had no bone, they were just flesh, and extremely sensitive. It was one of the reasons why her people always wore head clasps, to protect them from the elements.

"We should go," Naruto said again, looking a little unsure of the decision himself, "I think Tholme and Vos still have a lot of questions for me."

Aayla sighed deeply, before nodding her head. Naruto stood up first, before turning around and pulling her up abruptly by her wrist. She collided with him in an embrace, pressed flush against him and shivering as his warm breathe washed over her neck, followed by a butterfly light kiss. Then they were moving towards the door, her hand held in his, fingers intertwined as they walked to the door and opened it.

Vos and Tholme were waiting outside, the younger leaning against the far wall while the elder sat on a box. The elder Jedi looked up as they exited the small room, and smiled, "Young people these days. Always like to keep their elders waiting."

Naruto blushed slightly, Aayla mirroring her loves as her lekku curled up in slight embarrassment. They both apologised at the same time, before looking at each other in surprise, bursting into nervous laughter a few moments later.

Quinlan tried to look intimidating in front of Naruto, as a father probably would when his daughter brought her boyfriend over to dinner, before he broke the mask with an exhale of breathe. He couldn't keep that emotion going, not by the way Aayla was glowing at the moment, almost like she had temporarily reverted back a decade to a sixteen year old.

"I still want some answers from you, son," Tholme said as he stood up, dusting off his pants, "and no circling the issue this time."

Naruto nodded his head, now completely serious, "I understand."

He allowed the elder Jedi Master to lead him down the corridor, and Aayla seemed ready to follow him but a hand was placed on her shoulder, stopping the young woman. She looked around to see Quinlan smiling a little at her, "Leave them be, we already know that he's harmless. Besides, there's someone I want you to meet."

"But I-"

"Don't worry too much," Naruto spoke up from behind her, giving Aayla a smile, "I'll be fine."

Aayla looked at Naruto with a frown, then back at Vos for a long moment. Finally she sighed and nodded, allowing her first Master to lead her away in the opposite direction. They moved down the corridor and around the corner, coming to a stop on the third door on the left. Quinlan looked around and rapped on the worn wood.

The door opened a crack, showing the lithe figure of Khaleen Hentz. She looked almost exactly as Aayla remembered her, seven months ago during the Battle of Saleucami. Her body was still lithe with piercing green eyes and long luxurious hair that was no longer magenta but seemed to revert to her natural hair colour of dark brown. The former Confederate spy turned Republic double agent starred directly at her for a moment, studying her with an intensity that only a former espionage agent could have.

Aayla could only look back. The two of them never really got along, keeping their relationship strictly professional. She had actually protested their union, because of her adherence to the Jedi code and her belief in it, though eventually she did come around and accepted her first master's decision.

Khaleen sighed, almost huffed before moving with speed which showed her peak of physical fitness. Her forehead was pressed against Aayla's, piercing green eyes the only thing the young woman could see. "It's not a hallucination then."

Aayla managed a half smile, "Sorry to disappoint."

She was pulled into an embrace, eyes widening in sudden shock as the spy hugged her before letting her go and holding her at arm's length. She looked Aayla over, and shook her head in bemusement, "You look a little thin there, Jedi girl."

Aayla raised her brow at that, before shaking her head, smiling a little to herself, "So everyone keeps telling me."

Khaleen finally smiled in slight amusement, "I'm glad to see that you're safe."

"You too," Aayla replied, putting her arms on Khaleen's shoulders and nodding her head.

"I suppose you want to see him?" Khaleen asked as she let the three Jedi into the room, giving Vos a quick kiss on the cheek before moving past them to a small crib positioned at the corner. She reached down, lifting out the small form of a baby boy with the utmost maternal care. The former spy turned and walked back over, whispering softly into the awakened child's ear. "Korto, there's someone I want you to meet."

Aayla watched the baby with rapt attention, half-excited and half-terrified when Khaleen and her baby were just a few steps away from her. The former spy saw the young woman's worry, and smiled. The baby's attention went from his mother to Aayla, and the young woman gasped at the tuft of black hair and piercing eyes which were definitely inherited from Quin. The infant saw her, and instead of crying like she had expected he smiled and reached over to her.

"May I?" Aayla asked, seeing this baby and trying not to turn into a pile of jelly. He was so beautiful, as he grinned and babbled excitedly, not afraid at all by the new presence in the room. Khaleen walked over to her, and slowly, and with great care handed him to her, standing by her side and showing her how to hold him before taking a step back. Aayla could only nod her head at the former spy's instruction, her senses completely transfixed by the little bundle of joy in her arms.

Little chubby hands reached out and touched her face, surprising the young Twi'lek for a moment. The baby was laughing happily as he took in the facial features of the new person holding him. Aayla couldn't hope but break out into a tender smile, gently rocking the baby back and forth in her arms.

"Master," she said at last, smiling as she freed a hand to caress the little boy's cheek, making him look up at her with wide eyed focus, taking in her features and committing them to memory. She had read that a baby did this to remember the most important people in its little life.

"Yes, Aayla?" Vos asked, happiness tingeing his voice as he watched a woman he considered his daughter together with his own son.

He stopped babbling, and for a moment a little sliver of fear crossed her mind, was he going to cry? Her worries were cast aside when she glanced at his face and saw that he was completely focused on her right lekku, which was wrapped around her neck. A little chubby hand reached out in an attempt to grab it.

"Oh, no you don't." She chided softly, taking his attention away from her appendage by nuzzling her nose against his forehead. The response was a shout of laughter and the baby wriggling around in delight. "That's not for pulling, little one."

Vos laughed, and the smiles on all in the room only seemed to add to the mood. "So what's on your mind, Aayla?"

"I think I've made up my mind," she said, poking the child's nose lightly and watching as he scrunched up his little face, babbling happily at her attention.

"About being his godmother?"

"Mm," she nodded her head, allowing the child to enclose his little hand around her finger. The woman in her wanted to scream about how cute he was, and it took the Jedi in her to stop her from making such an embarrassing mistake.

"So?" he asked with a smile.

"I think I will be his godmother," Aayla said, holding this baby and feeling something she had thought she would never feel again, not in seven months, but suddenly found an abundance of it today. For the first time since Order 66 Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight, was at peace.

* * *

At least it didn't look like an interrogation room. It wasn't a dark chamber with only one very bright light overhead, a wooden table and two chairs. Instead it turned out to be a room exactly like the one Naruto had been in with Aayla, after her confession. The memory of her even now sent an abundance of warmth and joy to his heart he had not felt in a long time, and never to the degree he felt it now. She loved him. She actually loved him!

He shook his head discretely, dispelling the memories. He had more pressing matters at the moment, mainly gaining the trust of his... what should he call her now, girlfriend seemed too trivial a title when it came to her, lover, no he was getting a little ahead of himself there. Love, perhaps? Yes that would do nicely, his love. Naruto sighed, just noticing that his mind had strayed from reality again. He attempted to take his mind off of Aayla, and took in the room around him.

There was a window, looking out over the cityscape of Nar Shaddaa, at least fifty storeys up by the look of it, and by the abundance of light and traffic the young Shinobi guessed they were back in one of the safer districts. The room itself was a simple affair, with two sofas and a small glass table in the middle, a holo-screen was in the corner and a few cupboards full of items were scattered about on the walls.

"Have a seat," Tholme motioned as the older man took one of the sofas in the room.

"Thank you," Naruto replied as he walked to the other sofa and sat down, looking across the room right at the Jedi master who was Aayla's second teacher. Tholme came off as an old soldier to Naruto, someone who had seen many things and done many things in his life. The scar running diagonally along his left eye showed that he had been in battle. His features were strong and stoic with the first signs of wrinkles appearing on his skin and hair which was also beginning to show signs of age and stress, half way between black and dark gray.

"Sorry for disappearing on you back there," Naruto began, feeling the need to break the ice and get this conversation rolling.

"Just try not to make it a habit," the older man replied as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms, studying Naruto, "Although I suppose I could forgive you, and Aayla's trust in you does relieve many of our worries from us. My former apprentice is not the type to just blindly trust someone."

"That's good to hear," Naruto replied with a nod.

"However," Magus continued. "We cannot overlook the fact that you are an unknown to us…of a race of people we've never heard of…from a place we've never heard of. Surely, you can understand that we might have some concerns?"

"Yes, I can, and I would have a few of my own if I was in your shoes," Naruto agreed, leaning forward in his chair, clasping his hands together and looking over at Tholme with a look of pure seriousness. "Ask any questions you wish and I will answer them to the very best of my ability. Aayla trusts you three with her life, and I would like nothing more than to gain your trust as well."

Tholme nodded his head, "Okay Naruto, we will begin. Who are you? What planet are you from? What are your loyalties?"

"My name is Naruto, full name Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, born of the Uzumaki clan, son of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze and his wife Kushina Uzumaki. I hail from Konohagakure no Sato, translated as Village Hidden in the Leaves; Shinobi village situated in the country of Hi no Kuni, translates as the Land of Fire. My rank is Jōnin, which is considered the elite of any stable Shinobi force." He answered the question calmly, noticing with a little chagrin the frown on Tholme's face. "The leader of my village was called the Hokage, translated as Fire Shadow, and my village would be the home base for Hi no Kuni's Shinobi forces, who compose a substantial component of Hi no Kuni's military, the other substantial component being Samurai, or armored swordsmen, who answer directly to Hi no Kuni's Feudal Lord, or Daimyo. These Samurai make up the rank-and-file of Hi no Kuni's military, whereas Shinobi are considered more specialized forces and are assigned more specialized tasks and functions."

"Shinobi are a Force-sensitive force?" Tholme asked.

"That depends on your point of view," Naruto replied, "From what I can tell when Aayla and I talk about it, you Jedi gain your power from an external psychic source known as the Force; sometimes she calls it "the Living Force", while we Shinobi gain our abilities internally from what we call a chakra circulatory system, which is similar in many ways to the capillaries that carry blood."

"And what were your duties as a Shinobi? How are they defined?"

"A Shinobi can be many things, although we first arose as assassins and mercenary clans for hire."

"You started off as assassins and mercenaries?" Tholme asked, eyes narrowing.

"At the beginning, yes," Naruto nodded his head, "It was the Shinobi clans who first learned how to channel and use chakra, and many of them were already warrior clans. At the beginning they fought for the highest bidder, using their abilities and powers to aide their benefactor in a time of war. Out of these wars two clans emerged, the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan. The two of them struck up a rivalry because at the time they were the strongest, when one side would hire the Uchiha the other side would hire the Senju and vice versa."

Tholme didn't interrupt; he just listened, choosing to withhold judgment until the young man finished his story.

"However times began to change: the continent was beginning to unify into a handful of countries, and work for mercenaries began to decline. So the heads of both the Uchiha and Senju met, and decided to form an alliance. They built Konoha, the first Shinobi village in history and pledged their support to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire. Over time, other clans joined including the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Hyuga, Inuzuka and Aburame. Other clans saw this grand alliance and hastily started forming alliances and villages of their own, so ended the era of clans and began the era of villages. Well that's the simplified version."

"I see," Tholme muttered, frowning in thought, "So your people were mercenaries turned soldiers."

"We were, but we were not a united order like the Jedi. I know what you are thinking, Master Tholme, but the Shinobi cannot be so easily categorised into good or evil, light or dark. There were evil Shinobi who did nothing but slaughter and kill, and then there were others who fought for their country and their leader with the utmost devotion, still there were more who fought for an ideal or for someone they loved and more who thought of it as just a job. Shinobi came from many backgrounds and walks of life: some were good; some were evil; most, however, fell into more of a grey area."

"Hmm," Tholme hummed in thought. "I sense you are telling me the truth boy, but I will be straight with you. The Jedi in me doesn't like what I hear about the Shinobi; not one bit."

"I know. Aayla was of the same opinion when I told her," Naruto replied.

"So what would you categorize yourself as?"

"Me?" Naruto asked, thinking for a moment before answering with the honest truth, "I was an orphan, and alone, so when I became a Shinobi it was so I could be recognised as something more than an unwanted child. Over time that outlook changed. I met people, made friends who became like family to me, and I changed my idea. I became a Shinobi and continued on because I wanted to protect those people I considered my family."

Naruto chuckled lightly, "The thoughts of a kid, huh?"

"You didn't keep this new focus?" Magus asked.

"I tried, until the very end. But I failed," Naruto replied regretfully, leaning back into his chair and blowing out a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling, "after that, well, it's not something I like to talk about, probably the darkest time of my life."

"What happened?" Tholme pressed.

"War happened…" Naruto replied with a melancholy smile on his face as he looked back at Tholme, "…and this was not a war of village against village. In fact, all of the villages had united into one huge force for the first time in our world's history. It was a war between the Shinobi Alliance and a renegade army known as the Akatsuki. We won the war, but I lost my village," He sighed and looked right at the older Jedi, "We were not perfect Tholme, many Shinobi fought with a set of principles or a code of honour, but just as many didn't."

"Then what was your people's view on good and evil, light and dark?" the Jedi Master asked.

"That depended on the village, and the individual," Naruto replied. "Each village had a set of guidelines and rules, techniques which were considered forbidden and ways of treating each other in peacetime. Our people generally weren't driven by religion, race or creed. In times of war, we simply saw our opponents as the enemy, and it was kill or be killed. We didn't believe in light or dark, or some omnipotent Force guiding us down a path. It was up to the individual and his choices."

"What are your opinions on war?"

"I hate war," Naruto answered honestly, "War takes things from you and gives nothing back. Your friends go to the battlefield and sometimes they don't return. Mothers and fathers lose sons and daughters and vice versa, good men die and those left are nothing more than hollow shells of what they once were. But there are some wars that have to be fought, and that war was one of them."

"I can see it," Tholme sighed as he whispered.

"See what?"

"That you are a good man, Naruto Uzumaki." The old Jedi smiled.

"A good man, huh?" Naruto asked as he leaned back and looked up, "I have killed Tholme, and when I lost everything I became what I hated, I became bent on revenge and it left me feeling hollow and cursed. I walked what you Jedi call a dark path and I was almost consumed by it."

"But you are still a good man," the Jedi continued wistfully, "Many others would have never been able to come back from the places you have been. Pain and anger lead to darkness and hatred."

"Is that why the Jedi frown on emotion?" Naruto asked.

"I thought I was interrogating you?"

"Interrogation," Naruto countered with a smirk. "I thought I was just being questioned."

Tholme smiled a little, but became serious again, "The Jedi aren't perfect either, my boy, but we thought that by becoming detached from the galaxy we would be able to see it from an unbiased view."

"I understand where you're coming from," Naruto conceded, "letting your emotions control you never really ends well. However there's just something about your code that really rubs me the wrong way."

"How so?"

"In Konoha, there was a man named Danzo Shimura, an old man who had witnessed the worst of war. He created a specialised division within the ANBU, the most elite level of Shinobi. He called this force ROOT. This force was completely loyal to him. He undermined the Hokage and created an army made of orphans, trained since they were young to remove all emotion and become complete killing machines," Naruto saw the look on Tholme's face, one of revulsion. He smiled a little at him, "It was a good thing he didn't become Hokage huh? He died and ROOT was disbanded."

"Why are you telling me this?" Tholme asked.

"Because when I hear a Jedi talk about their code, about how emotion was a great weakness that needed to be removed, I am reminded of ROOT and the lack of emotion or mercy in their members' eyes when they killed," Naruto replied, keeping the eyes of the Jedi Master across from him, "I'm sorry to say this. The Jedi are a world away from ROOT, but when I hear of purging emotion, that is the first thing that comes to mind."

Tholme looked at him for a long moment before leaning back into the sofa and chuckling lightly, "You are an interesting man, Naruto."

"I do try," he replied with a broad grin.

"Humor me one more question?"

"Hit me."

"If you had a chance to rebuild the Shinobi, would you rebuild it like it was?"

"No," Naruto replied with conviction. "I would build it very differently. If anything, I would use a template similar to what you Jedi have as the foundation, except for the false ideology that emotion should be purged from one's being. No one should have to live that way. Emotions are a crucial part of life and an integral part of how to grow and learn. A code of honour and ethics was what my people sorely lacked, though."

"Then again, you Shinobi were created as assassins and mercenaries," Tholme countered lightly. "If assassins wanted to survive then I wouldn't recommend that they follow guidelines or rules."

Naruto laughed, "True enough, I suppose."

"Now then on to more personal questions," Tholme said after a moment, standing up and walking around the table. He put his foot onto the sofa and peered down at Naruto with a questioning gaze, one of a seasoned interrogator who wanted this information and was almost willing to do anything to get it. "What are your intentions towards Aayla?"

The question surprised Naruto, but just for a moment. He shrugged as he answered straightforwardly, "I haven't thought that far ahead yet, to be honest. All I know is that I'm in love with her, and I have been for a while. Based on what I had been told about the Jedi Order, I was scared she couldn't return it, so I've simply…loved her from afar, for lack of a better expression…by keeping her alive, protecting her, and taking the best care of her that I can."

"And now that you know she feels the same way you do?"

Naruto smiled. He didn't grin; he smiled in true joy, a tender loving smile. He spoke in a small, wistful whisper, looking at the surface of the glass table, "I feel like I'm walking on air. I thought I could never love again, but when I look at her I become willing to take one last chance."

Tholme exhaled breathe as he crossed his arms, looking down at Naruto with a smile. "If you ever hurt her-"

"I'll bite the blaster bolt, as you well travelled people say." Naruto replied as he looked to Tholme. "I would die a thousand times."

"Very well," Tholme nodded as he leaned down and whispered words into Naruto's ear, words said in a way that only a grandparent would say. "Look after her and protect her."

"Until my dying breath, I swear." He took out a knife, ignoring his questioners stiffening as he slid the blade across his palm, blood dripped from the wound as he turned his hand into a fist and squeezed. "I swear on my own blood that I will protect her until my dying breath. This is the ultimate oath of a Shinobi."

* * *

Tholme led Naruto back down the corridor, taking him right back to where the other Jedi were. The young Shinobi was unsure about just what was in store for him concerning Aayla's former masters, but he had answered his questions as well as he could so he could only hope that things would turn out well.

They turned a corner, seeing one of the doors opened. It was almost nervously quiet though, and for a fleeting moment something in the back of the young Shinobi's mind made him worry. What if they were attacked by bounty hunters or Imperial agents while they were away? It was a stupid worry, he knew this, but it was a worry none the less.

Tholme led him into the room. Quinlan Vos, T'ra Saa and a beautiful young woman were the first people he had seen. He guessed the woman by the younger man's side was Khaleen, the former spy that Aayla had told him about. He was about to speak, but Quinlan stopped him with a shake of his head, smiling at Naruto's frown before pointing to the centre of the room.

He looked.

Aayla stood in the middle of the room, attention completely on the small bundle of white sheets in her arms. Her face mere millimetres away as a small pair of chubby hands reached out and touched her cheeks and nose. Her smile was soft and tender, as radiant as any sun he had ever seen, and her posture was steady as she nurtured the baby in her arms.

Naruto looked at her for a long moment. He did not speak, he did not move. He just watched as Aayla continued to coo and speak softly to the babbling child in her arms. After a while a single thought pierced his mind.

By the sage above, she looked so beautiful.

She looked so right, so perfectly right holding a child in her arms.

His mind and body were both on autopilot. Naruto walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, planting his chin on the crook of her neck and kissing her softly on the cheek. She didn't go rigid, nor did she seem at all surprised by his presence, instead she leaned into him, completely trusting that he would never let her fall and allowed him a look at the baby boy in her arms.

Naruto looked down at the baby just as he was looking right up at him, his wide eyes and slightly gapping mouth exactly how Sakura and Tsunade had told him a baby would look like when they saw a person for the first time. They would study you, learn how you looked and committed it to memory. A baby soaked up more information than any other age range, at that age they could learn almost anything.

He looked at the child, and then at Aayla, and he wondered if they would ever have a moment like this. Was it even possible for a Human and a Twi'lek to make a baby together? Was she ever going to be able to hold her own child in her arms, cooing and shushing and speaking so he or she memorised her angelic voice?

Naruto smiled in chagrin as he shook his head.

He was really getting ahead of himself.

* * *

"So, what did you find?" Vos asked as he closed the door, leaving the two alone.

"Your instincts were right, my young friend," Tholme replied as he crossed his arms, hiding them in the sleeves of his robe as he spoke, "He is not a Sith spy, nor does he mean us any harm. All he has told me I believe, for I felt no deceit from him."

"What about his plans with Aayla?" T'ra Saa asked.

"He told me he doesn't know, but he swore on his own blood that he would protect her until his dying breath," Tholme walked a few steps down the corridor, turning around to face Quinlan, T'ra Saa and Khaleen, "If Aayla trusts him, then I will put my faith in him."

"But can we trust him?" the Neti Jedi Master asked, "I feel nothing but happiness for Aayla like all of you do, but still I worry."

"There is no need to worry," Khaleen spoke up for the first time, leaning against the wall with her arms folded and her eyes closed. "He swore on his own blood, did he?"

"He did. Sliced his own hand open to do it, too," Tholme nodded.

"Then we have nothing to fear as far as Aayla is concerned," she replied as she pushed herself off the wall.

"What do you mean?" T'ra Saa asked.

"Naruto is a soldier," she answered as she walked over to Vos and leaned on his shoulder, smiling serenely as he put an arm around her waist. "He is a soldier with a sense of honour and a moral code which he would not break easily. When someone like him makes a blood oath, he will keep it, until his dying breath. What did he say when he made the oath?"

"Until my dying breath, I swear," Tholme began with a frown. "I swear on my own blood that I will protect her until my dying breath. It sounds an awful lot like the blood oath of the Anzati."

"It also sounds like the bond of friendship of the Kiffu clans," Vos frowned.

Tholme nodded his head, eyes widening slightly in remembrance of his time as a Watcher of the twin worlds. "It is one of their vows."

"It is also one of the pinnacle marital vows of the Mandalorian clans," Khaleen added.

"How is that possible," Tholme murmured. "According to him that vow is one of the most important vows a Shinobi can make. If the Anzati assassins, the Guardians of Kiffu and the Mandalorian clans have similar vows... it can either be coincidence or not."

"Why must it be coincidence?" Quinlan asked.

"Because from what he tells me, he comes from a people that were technologically primitive. They still used knives and swords as weapons, and if they weren't Shinobi the people either travelled on foot or by horse-drawn cart. His people have never met anyone not of their world."

T'ra Saa frowned at this, "Then why did one of his people's main vows coincide with that of at least three other warrior bound peoples?"

"I have no idea."

"We need you to tell us everything he told you." Vos said thoughtfully.

Tholme nodded in agreement, "I still believe he is not a threat though, to either us or Aayla. I got the impression that he would rather die than hurt her."

"So he is not dangerous?"

"Not to us," Magus shook his head, "I don't believe so. Put Aayla in harm's way, though, and I pity the poor fool on the receiving end of his fury."

"Good," T'ra Saa stated as she turned to them from the door of the room with a knowing smile.

Khaleen joined her, looking over the older woman's shoulder to see the scene in the room. The former thief turned spy smiled softly, "They kind of look right like that, you know what I mean?"

"I do," T'ra Saa nodded her head in agreement, smiling knowingly as she turned around. Tholme was the first to catch on. He knew her better than most. Quinlan was next to see it, by just a few seconds later than his former teacher.

"Alright spill," Vos said at last, "What did you see?"

"You knew he wasn't dangerous since you looked into Aayla's future," Tholme added as he folded his arms and shook his head, bemused. "I spent the last half an hour giving that boy the 'Fatherly dress-down' for nothing."

"I saw a little more than that," T'ra Saa allowed as she continued to smile, "In half of their futures, and if they overcome their obstacles…I see life."

"Life," Tholme intoned, before his eyes went wide. He said a total of two words, but managed to control his voice, "A baby?"

T'ra Saa could only smile.

* * *

_**Author Note 1: **__We've done it. We're over the threshold of a thousand reviews. Thank you to everyone who helped me and this story reach this far and thank you for your continued support in my endeavour. This chapter, posted two days earlier than usual is a thank you from me, so enjoy it. We are now on 1,058 for the story, considerably more than I thought, so thank you everybody._

_**Author's Note 2: **__What did you guys think of my little tender moments between Naruto and Aayla. I ask because it was my first time writing something so... fluffy I believe is the term. I actually liked writing it, I guess I'm a hopeless romantic at heart... oh god._

_**Author's Note 3: **__Also thanks to ncpfan for getting the beta-reading done and sent back so quickly. He himself is writing a Naruto story called 'To Really Know Someone' and I would recommend any Naruto fan to give it a read._

_**Author's Note 4: **__This is the important part of these Author's Notes to me. At the beginning I made it clear that as Naruto and Aayla's relationship deepens there may be lemons (translated from Fanfiction jargon as sex scenes). I had actually written a scene prior, but my computer crashed on me and the scene was lost to cyberspace. _

_What I want to know is do you guys want to see lemons, or would you be more comfortable with just limes. I personally don't mind either way, but for those who disagree I have a compromise. The chapters containing lemons would be reposted on my home page as individual one-shots, basically exactly the same as the chapter on the main story except they will have the sex scene added in, an uncut version of the chapter if you will. _

_What do you think?_

_Review or PM me on your opinions, and a poll should be set up regarding the issue. Iit will be up for a few days starting tonight. Just go to my main page and vote. If the vote is for the majority then I will make an attempt at it, but if I am not happy with it then I will not upload it._


	20. The Will of Fire

_**Chapter 19**_

_**The Will of Fire**_

Four figures entered the anchorage, hooded and cloaked in baggy black robes, their faces completely obscured to the artificial light. The sun was just rising on their half of Nar Shaddaa, and beams of light were streaming through the windows. Work seemed to have temporarily come to a halt, most likely due to a shift change between the engineers on deck.

Dass watched as the four figures walked through the security perimeter with ease, like they belonged there, and he could feel it through the force that at least three of them were Jedi. He recognised Aayla's force signature, as well as another two signatures that he found familiar but couldn't pinpoint. The fourth had to be Naruto; he was sure of this.

The crew watched as the four continued walking until they were within arm's reach of them, looking a little nervous until they lowered their hoods, exposing their faces. The sights of Aayla and Naruto safe and sound were a visible relief to the majority of the crew. The other two they didn't recognise, but Dass did.

"Master Tholme, Master Vos," he greeted with a surprised smile as he bowed his head, "It brings me great joy to know that the two of you are safe and well."

"We feel the same, Master Jennir," Vos returned the greeting with a smile of his own.

"Order 66 took too many of us. It truly is a relief to see others," Tholme added with a nod, before his serious facade partially collapsed into a slight smirk, "You appear to have gathered some allies during your sojourn."

"Mm," Jennir nodded his head, before raising his right hand to introduce the crew, "May I present to you the crew of the starship _Uhumele:_Her captain, Schurk-Herren, her main pilot, Crys Taanzer, her guards and main fighters: Ko Valkier, Bomo Greenbark and Mezgraf, and her engineers, Ratty and Reza Greenbark."

The two masters bowed before the crew, much to the surprise of some. Tholme began to speak. "We thank you for offering shelter to our brother and sister. We are in your debt."

"I hear from my former apprentice that you have one hell of a pilot," Quinlan added, looking up to the blonde haired woman. "One of the best she has ever seen."

Crys blushed a little before bowing her head. "Thank you for your praise."

"I also hear that you protected her when she needed it most," he added, bowing lower, "Words cannot properly express my gratitude for what you have done for her, and what you have been forced to go through."

"I feel a little embarrassed," Aayla muttered as she leaned her head against Naruto's arm.

The blond smiled and chuckled as he placed an arm around her shoulders, "Don't be; you have no need to."

The crew did notice the exchange, but decided that there would be time for questions later. They looked back to the two Jedi Masters as they raised their heads to examine the number of people before them.

It was the older who spoke, with sadness in his voice. "Many of you have suffered, it seems."

Some flinched, but others stood firm. Schurk-Herren, one of those who stood firm, nodded in confirmation, "Indeed, though some worse than others."

Tholme nodded his head, "Many have suffered, but in my experience, dark roads do not last forever. We can only apologise for whatever suffering we caused. We thought we were doing what was best, but our own errors were great."

"There is no need," Crys spoke up, waving her hands in front of her in dismissal, "Everyone here has suffered; laying blame and pointing fingers won't help anyone."

"We have been told there was another Jedi here," Vos said after a moment of silence.

"There is," Celeste said as she stepped forward, the crew allowing her space as she advanced on the Masters wearing a simple cream coloured tunic and dark pants with knee high black leather boots. The black haired woman bowed her head in a show of respect to her superiors before she introduced herself, "I am Celeste Morne, Jedi Shadow of the Jedi Order."

"So it is true," Tholme spoke up as he stepped forward. "You were placed into stasis during the era of the Mandalorian Wars?"

She nodded, "Yes, I was."

"It must be difficult for you," Vos noted with regret.

"It is, but I have found friends who were able to hold my hand." Celeste replied with a small smile. "I do not think you should worry about my well-being, Masters. I am among friends here, and I feel that with time I shall recover."

"It seems that you are already well on your way to recovery," Tholme smiled. "However if you ever require any additional aide, just tell Aayla, and she will tell me."

"I am humbled, Master…and honoured," she replied with a bow of her head and a grateful smile.

So this was how unrelated Jedi talked to each other. Naruto watched the exchange and sighed; it was all too formal, too…rigid and unemotional for his taste. Way too much respect for people that they barely knew. He had a feeling of the characters of Tholme and Vos, but he also knew that Morne and Jennir didn't know them personally. For Morne it was easy, stuffed in a stasis pod for a few millennia, but for Jennir he guessed that the white haired rogue didn't run in the same social circles when the Jedi were still active.

Aayla caught onto his discomfort, and gave him a light tap on the shoulder, smiling cheekily as he looked over at her with a mock-frown. "Don't fall asleep now."

Naruto gave her a wry look before looking back to the exchange, "Poor Celeste looks like she's going to blow out of her boots."

Quinlan made a sound of supreme annoyance, much to the surprise of all others present. "I'm sorry, but all of this respectful talk just doesn't suit me. Lady Celeste, may I call you Celeste?" Vos asked, to which Naruto found himself smirking satisfactorily; if anything, he found Quinlan Vos to be a bit of a kindred spirit: bit of a maverick, believed respect to be earned instead of given, but could absolutely be depended on when it came down to it. Naruto mused that he wouldn't mind having a guy like Vos watching his back in a fight, and believed that Vos looked at Naruto and instinctively felt the same way.

Celeste overcame her surprise quickly, and nodded in obvious relief, "Thank you, Master Vos."

"Just Quinlan is fine," the younger of the human males waved off.

"Quinlan," she repeated before offering a grateful smile. "Yes, that will be fine. From now on just call me Celeste."

"Then just call me Magus, though I do like being called Tholme," the elder added.

"Tholme it is, then," Celeste smiled.

"Under normal circumstances we would like nothing more than to talk to you about history, maybe we will before you decide which path you will choose," Tholme added as he took her hand in his, a simple greeting, "You have suffered, but remember that although the Jedi are divided and weakened, there will be some who will help you, should you need it."

Celeste smiled softly, "Thank you Mast…err, Tholme; I'll bear that in mind, but I believe that I have already found all the help I will need," she finished while looking over at Aayla and Naruto.

"That is good to hear," Tholme replied with a smile of his own.

Any other words were drowned out by a certain female Nosaurian shouting in an excited voice, "AUNTIE!"

Aayla turned just in time to catch a very lively little reptilian female, smiling softly as the girl hugged her legs and returning the affection by effortlessly picking her up in her arms and hugging her tightly, "Hey Reza! I'm so sorry for scaring you."

The girl hummed as she hugged Aayla tightly, smiling, "You're back now, it's alright! I knew Naruto would find you, I just knew it!"

Aayla laughed lightly at her enthusiasm and childlike faith as she returned the embrace while asking in a low voice as though it was their little secret, "He does have a habit of doing that, doesn't he?"

"Mm-Hmm," the little girl hummed in delight, hugging her tightly.

"There's something a little different about you, Aayla," Bomo said bemusedly as he stepped forward, "You seem a little happier…more carefree?" he ventured.

"Really?" she asked with a wry smile, chancing a glance at Naruto who himself was grinning like a fool, but he was her fool.

"Yeah," he said even more bemusedly, narrowing his eyes to show that he knew she was drawing this out.

"Let's just say…" she began, trailing off before taking Naruto's arm in hers and leaning against him, closing her eyes and smiling contentedly as his hand clasped onto hers, "…that I've decided to go a little rogue."

"Oh," Crys was the first to notice, and she broke out into a knowing smile, "Well! I'm certainly glad to hear that!"

"What, what?" Reza repeated, pouting in that she had been left out of something, "What happened?"

"The two of them decided to…well…become a couple, little one," Her father said with a grin.

The child looked up at her father quizzically, "But weren't they always together?"

Naruto and Aayla looked at each other for a long moment before bursting out into laughter. Naruto managed to speak through the heaves as he nearly collapsed from laughing so hard, "Maybe we…were and…we…just…didn't know it! Reza…you're the…smartest…one…ah-here!"

Tholme shook his head lightly, chuckling at the now-hysterical new couple before turning to his former pupil, "Quinlan, could you help them with their business? I would like to speak to Knight Morne for a moment more."

Vos bowed his head slightly, "Of course, my friend, consider it done."

Tholme smiled as he turned his attention to Celeste, giving her a reassuring look before he led her away to one of the many side-offices in the Rangers' new hideout. Quinlan didn't watch them go. He looked to both the crew of the _Uhumele_then to Naruto and Aayla before offering a smile, "Maybe with a few Jedi among you it might be easier to sell that stolen shuttle, eh?"

"They're being a little conservative about price," Schurk allowed.

"Believe me they will want that shuttle, as long as it is the type you said it was," the Jedi replied as he folded his arms and led them towards the main hanger, obviously looking for the leader of the cartel which was the Antarian Rangers, "It's just a matter of seeing what you can get for such a valuable vessel."

"Master, hold on a moment," the voice of his former apprentice made him stop and turn, looking over at Aayla inquisitively before nodding his head. The other members of the _Uhumele_also turned to look at her, who was standing beside Naruto, "I have something I need to tell my friends."

Quinlan hesitated for a moment before nodding his head, "By all means."

"Thank you," she smiled a little nervously before turning to the crew, "Everyone, Naruto and I have been talking and we have... we have decided to part ways with you from here."

You could have heard a pin drop within the vicinity of the crew, all that could be heard were the noises of machinery and people in the background. All were silent and surprised by this sudden change. The first one to speak was not Schurk, nor Bomo, nor even Crys. It was Valkier. The tall Blood Carver looked at them closely, before speaking his mind to them.

"Why so suddenly?" he asked a simple question, but it was a question that was on the minds of the entire crew.

"You've seen what kinds of sentients are in the game now," Naruto spoke up in place of Aayla, knowing that this was hard for her to do. The crew of men and women before them were not just some acquaintances anymore; they were a family, and family took care of their own. Feeling this same sentiment himself, Naruto continued, "It's only going to get worse from here. Already we have been hunted by the deadliest of bounty hunters and had a run-in with the Sith. Our luck has held out until now, but it won't last forever."

"Your ship has been refitted, right down to its name and we believe that this is the best chance for you all to get out of this before our luck runs out and one of you dies," Aayla added as she stepped forward, eyes welling with unshed tears, finishing in a voice that began to break, "I wouldn't be able to take losing anyone else."

She opened her eyes to see Crys stalking over to her, and was prepared for almost anything. She wasn't prepared for a hug, and for a while she stood there, completely stunned and unable to react before her hands rose shakily to return the act of affection. The blond haired woman spoke to her softly. "Are you sure about this? I mean, really, absolutely sure?"

Aayla sniffled as she tightened her grip on the blonde woman, as she responded in the affirmative, "I am."

"Then I have no right to stop you," Taanzer replied in a tear-filled voice, giving Aayla a squeeze before bringing her out to arms length and looking her over, allowing a sad smile to cross her lips, both women now crying freely, "Part of me always knew this day would come, but I still want you and Naruto to stay with us."

"There is a part of me that wants to stay here, with all of you, as well" Aayla admitted.

"Then why leave?" the pilot asked, "We'll work something out."

Aayla shook her head, "No, Crys. It's because we love all of you that we've made this decision. It will only get more dangerous from here. The Empire will stop turning a blind eye to us eventually, and if we do stay, it will make the rest of you walking targets for every mercenary and bounty hunter from here to Coruscant and back. On top of that, there are enemies that are hunting us that are far more dangerous than any mercenary or bounty hunter. I wouldn't be able to live with putting you or anyone else in the crew in that kind of peril…knowing I could have prevented it…"

Bomo sighed, patting his daughter's head as she gripped onto his shirt and looked at the scene with big, tear filled eyes, "I knew this day would come…" he said sombrely, "…I just knew it."

"No," Reza mumbled, and Aayla heard her. The Twi'lek offered Crys a sad smile before disengaging the embrace and walking over to the tiny Nosaurian, crouching down as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "You can't leave, Auntie!"

Aayla offered her a wan smile, "I have to, sweetheart."

"Why?" she sniffled.

"To protect you, and your father, and everyone else…" she replied, reaching out with a hand to push back one of her clawed hands, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were hurt because someone was after me and Naruto; it would be too much to bear."

"Auntie," she sobbed. Reza ran into the taller woman, latching her arms around her as Aayla fell into a sitting position and hugged the little girl back. All that could be heard from the two was the child crying and Aayla quietly shushing her, whispering into her ear as she cradled the sobbing reptilian.

Shurk looked over at Naruto, "You're both sure of this?"

Naruto nodded, "We are. Thank you - all of you - for everything. But we can't drag you all any further into this."

Bomo growled as he folded his arms, "I don't like this one bit."

"Neither do I, my friend," Naruto replied before looking over at Dass, "Help Crys find her son, and protect these people with your life."

Dass sighed before extending his hand, watching as the taller human gripped onto his wrist and shook, "I don't like this, Naruto."

"Me neither," Naruto admitted in a resigned fashion.

"The same goes for you, you know," the white haired Jedi Master replied as he looked over to Aayla and Reza.

"You don't even need to tell me," Naruto grinned.

* * *

Darth Vader knelt in his personal balcony, not looking up until he saw the flickering of light which signalled his master's appearance before him. The Emperor looked exactly as he remembered, hooded and cloaked. The features upon his face that were not shadowed by his hood were pale, wrinkled and scarred. Vader bowed his head, waiting for his new Master to notice his presence.

"Rise, my apprentice," the old man beckoned, and the Dark Lord did so, "What news of the rebellion on Utapau?"

"Quelled, my master," Vader replied, head still bowed before the hologram, "The Pau'ans and the Utai fought well; it took the annihilation of five major settlements before they agreed to unconditionally surrender."

Sidious nodded his head, a smile ghosting across his face, "Very good. Your job there is done. Now, I have another assignment for you, Lord Vader."

"What is thy bidding, my master?" The Dark Lord replied, bowing his head.

"We have been having problems on Jabiim," the Emperor said.

"I thought Jabiim was completely subjugated?"

"As did I," his master replied. "But circumstances seem to have changed. We have lost just over forty clones in the last month, twelve of whom were of the ARC Division. The circumstances behind their deaths remain a mystery, but they all seem to have been killed in the same manner…by one man. A complete briefing awaits you upon your arrival to the Jabiim System. I will be sending a new detachment of warriors there, and you are to lead them, and investigate who is killing our troopers."

"And if I find this man?"

"If he is unwilling to speak, dispose of him," Sidious said simply, "With this one I sense a disturbance in the force, a power which I have only felt once before now. You should know this well Lord Vader. This is similar to the one you failed to capture a few weeks ago."

Vader remembered, and he silently cursed his master for reminding him, "Yes, my master."

"I sense he is not as strong as the one before, but he should still prove a challenge even to the likes of you, my apprentice," Sidious continued in a grandfatherly voice, "Do not hesitate; I would rather this person be brought before me alive, but I will accept a body."

Vader nodded, "I will leave at once, my master. I will not fail you again. I will bring this one before you either in chains or dead."

"See that you do, Lord Vader," Sidious said with conviction, "I will not accept failure again."

"If I may ask," the dark lord spoke up, catching his master's attention. "Who is it that you will be sending?"

"It is simply an experiment, Lord Vader…" said Sidious, with an ominous smile, "…an experiment under your command."

He was gone, hologram fizzing out of existence in an instant.

Vader stood, spun on his heel and exited the chamber, back towards his own quarters on his personal flagship. His mind continued to go through just what this presence his master felt was, and how powerful it was compared to that blond-haired man he had fought barely a few weeks ago; a man who had devastated him in a few moves; a man who, if he used his full power, could rip apart a few battalions worth of soldiers before he was stopped.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Vader could not mask his interest. Was this Uzumaki as powerful as they came, or was he simply a typical example of what those who called themselves Shinobi were capable of? It was an interesting question. Naruto could have killed him in that chamber, but he chose not to, and the dark lord wondered why. It wasn't out of a sense of mercy, or maybe it was, but Vader felt something more, like he meant what he said when he stated he was in a hurry. There was someone more precious to him that meant so much more than finishing off an opponent.

He cared for one of two Jedi in that room and he could guess that it was not the male and definitely the other, the one he himself knew as a friend and comrade once, not so long ago. This Naruto Uzumaki was worried for Aayla Secura. Vader's mind began to explore the possibilities. She would be his weak point, and something he could take advantage of in the future if he was given even half the chance. A piece of him buried under the darkness and turmoil protested to this, protested to hurting her. She was his friend, there for him when she was able, a true friend.

Vader buried this voice deep within his subconscious. None of those who called themselves Jedi could truly be his friends, and even if they were, he wasn't one of them. Not anymore. Anakin Skywalker was dead and gone. Now all that remained was him: Darth Vader. He was all that remained, and the Jedi were his enemies from now till kingdom come.

* * *

Cristo sighed as he leaned against the chair, showing Schurk-Herren, Aayla and Quinlan the small duo of data-cards sitting within the confines of a small black case. "These cards are completely independent; untraceable to Imperial security systems. Deposited within each is a lump sum of one hundred thousand credits each, one for you Mr. Herren, and one for the Jedi."

Schurk nodded as he plucked the small device from its place, looking it over before smiling over at Quinlan, "My thanks to you, my friend."

Vos nodded before turning back to Aayla, who was holding her own credit chip between her slender fingers and looking it over, "So what do you two plan to do, now?"

"Haven't thought that far ahead, yet," she replied.

"You can still travel with us," Herren offered.

"And put you all in even more danger?" Aayla smiled softly back. "Thank you Schurk, but this is for the best."

"You could travel with us, you know." Vos said.

"Can't do that either, four Jedi and a Shinobi would bring too much attention, and I won't be putting you, Khaleen or my godson in any danger."

"Then what _are_you going to do?" Vos sighed in exasperation. "This is not like you Aayla; you usually have some sort of plan."

"I haven't had the chance to come up with one yet," Aayla shot her master a slightly annoyed look.

"Then why not buy a ship?"

The four in the room looked over to see Naruto leaning against the doorway. It took Vos to come up with a reply, "A what?"

"A ship," Naruto repeated. "You have Aayla who is a first class pilot, and me who ain't too shabby. If we had a ship we could keep ahead of the bounty hunters and Imperial goons."

"It is a good idea," Schurk allowed.

"It is," Aayla allowed for a moment, before looking over at Naruto, "But there is one little problem with your prognosis."

"And that is?"

"You're not a pilot." She stated flatly.

"I'm hurt by that remark. I could do a barrel roll in an Imperial shuttle," Naruto shot back lightly.

"It's not your flying that's the problem."

"Then what _is_ the problem?"

"You can't land," Aayla said bluntly.

"I can," he replied stubbornly.

"Hitting the ground is not the same thing as landing, Naruto."

"It _is_ the same. We're on the ground aren't we?"

"Yes, but we wouldn't survive a nose dive into the dirt," Aayla sighed. "Then there's the problem with having no income to maintain whatever ship we may buy."

"We'll get money somehow, maybe through smuggling."

"Smuggling?" Aayla asked wryly.

"You want a way to undermine the Empire and stay out of its clutches at the same time, right?" Naruto grinned broadly, "Then spit in their faces, smuggle whatever you can through their defences, and make them look like morons! If you don't like smuggling we could try independent work, transport, bounty-hunting, mercenary work. Become an outlaw! I hear it's fun and pretty productive."

"Is he serious?" Vos whispered.

"I'm afraid so," Aayla replied as she watched her love continue with his rant, smiling a little in mirth. "Mercenary... his Shinobi blood is talking."

"I've made a mistake," Quinlan quipped in sarcasm. "I should have kept him away from you."

"Too late," Aayla chided before turning her attention back to Naruto.

"Plus we are already talking with someone who deals with starships. I'm sure we'll get a decent ship," Naruto added, broad grin remaining in place.

Cristo looked at Naruto for a moment before switching his field of vision back at Aayla. "I think I have a ship in mind. I'll part with her for forty thousand Imperial credits. She's pretty basic though."

"Oh yes," Naruto smirked in triumph.

"Let's see what the ship is first before we throw our money at it," Aayla said as she pocketed the data-card and stood up.

"So I take it your going with his idea?" Schurk asked with a mirthful shake of his head.

"Only as far as buying a ship," Aayla responded. "We'll see what we can do from there."

"You mean buy a ship and just wing it?" Vos asked with a chuckle.

Aayla sighed, not liking the prognosis but knowing that was basically what they were doing, "Yes…we'll just wing it."

* * *

"This just seems to be one outrageous surprise after another," Tholme muttered as he sat in his chair, looking over at an apprehensive Morne. First, there was this Naruto character, who was not a Jedi nor a Sith but who was able to use abilities similar to, but not entirely of, the force, and now there was this woman sitting across from him, a woman who had been imprisoned in a sarcophagus for a few millennia, who had been forcefully taken by a long dead Sith lord and who would have probably died or gone mad had not the aforementioned "character" stepped in to save her.

"I can understand if you don't believe me," Celeste said, sighing as she leaned against the chair. Remembering the past and forcing herself to retell of her ordeal seemed to be difficult for her, Tholme had even told her that she could stop at any time, but she continued on regardless. She told him everything, every single piece of her ordeal from her first meeting with Zayne Carrick until the moment she had been freed of the Murr Talisman.

"I believe you," the elderly Jedi Master said, gaining their attention. "During my last year at the academy I did a dissertation on the life of the young man you mentioned, Zayne Carrick. You are the spitting image of Celeste Morne, and I sense that you are not lying. Your story also checks out, that you were trapped in a Sith sarcophagus built by Dark Lord Dreypa, your description of that stasis pod matches that of his creation exactly."

"I see," Celeste allowed before exhaling a sigh of relief. "If I may ask, how did Zayne... "

"How did he live?" Tholme finished for her with a wry smile.

"Yes…I wish to know," she replied softly.

"There isn't much information on him after he left the Jedi for good…" the elderly Jedi master allowed, "…but I was able to uncover a photograph of him later in life. He married an Arkanian offshoot named Jarael, and had two children. I was able to find nothing else on him."

"So he had a good life," Celeste allowed herself to smile, "I'm glad to hear that."

"So what do you plan to do now?" Tholme asked, watching as her dark eyes met his.

"I don't know," she allowed, looking down. "This is not my time. I know no one and I put those I may travel with in danger. I have no doubt this Darth Vader still believes I have the Muur Talisman. He will continue to look for me to claim it."

"But you cannot just disappear alone," Tholme said, "I will not allow it. You are a young woman who has been put through a great ordeal. At the moment you do not need solitude, and simply disappearing to live in a lifeless wasteland will do you more harm than good."

"Then what am I to do?" Morne asked as she clasped her hands together and leaned her forehead on them. "I'm still tainted by Muur and his power; I would be a danger to anyone who travels with me."

"No, you wouldn't," Tholme replied firmly, "You are not that weak a person. If you were then you would have been unable to successfully repulse that Sith lord's advances upon your mind. You are not as weak as you believe yourself to be; not nearly so."

Morne looked up at him with a smile. Her eyes were shimmering with tears yet to be spilled, "You are a good man, Master Tholme."

"You are too kind," the elderly Jedi replied with a good natured smile.

"But even so, I am still a danger."

Magus sighed, "You are a stubborn one. You'll fit in with our band quite nicely."

Celeste could only blink. He wasn't going to let her do what she felt she needed to do: vanish into the wilderness so she couldn't hurt, or be hurt, by anyone else. Celeste, at this moment, felt that she would just be extra baggage to anyone who took her in; that anyone who showed her any kindness would be in danger of being targeted by the Sith and their new Empire.

"The crew of the _Uhumele_would be delighted to keep you on," Tholme consoled, "I doubt they'd let you go to wallow in your own grief."

Celeste saw the faces of the crew of that freighter, and smiled, before shutting her eyes and shaking her head, "No, I can't. My presence would only bring pain and loss to them. I cannot put them through that."

'_What you really mean is, "I don't want them to hate me," isn't that right?'_Tholme mused to himself as he sighed, knowing that was exactly what she was thinking and feeling. He knew from experience that such thinking was poisonous to the mind as well as the body.

Bearing this in mind, Tholme didn't let up, "Then why not travel with us? We are Jedi like you and we will not allow one of our own to suffer needlessly."

"One of your companions has a wife and child, and my staying with you would put them in even greater danger. I could not live with myself if any of you were hurt because of me," Celeste replied with a shake of her head, "Thank you for your concern, Master Tholme."

Tholme sighed and growled in frustration before offering her another alternative, "Then what about Naruto and Aayla? They will be leaving the _Uhumele_crew and striking out on their own. They would probably be more than happy to take you along."

Celeste looked up at the old master in surprise, unaware that those two would be splitting from the main group. A part of her, deep down, wanted to go with them, wanted to stay with Aayla and Naruto, who had saved her from both the talisman and her own feelings of guilt and suffering; who were there for her when she needed someone to just hold her and tell her that she would be alright.

"I can't," she shook her head again.

"Why not come with us?" It wasn't Tholme who spoke this time. Both Jedi looked over to the door in time to see Naruto walking into the room, giving the woman the most piercing look one would ever attest to seeing.

"Because all I would do is bring you grief," she replied after a moment of silence.

"Bullshit," Naruto answered quickly and smartly.

"What?" Celeste asked, surprised at such an answer.

"I said bullshit," Naruto replied with a small smile. "I am not willing to leave you alone after what you've gone through. Aayla feels the exact same way. The last thing you need is to isolate yourself from the world."

"Naruto, I-" Celeste tried to speak, but she couldn't utter another word.

"I'll make it easy for you," the blond said as he took a step forward, oceanic eyes not leaving her dark orbs, taking and holding them in place. "You either come with us willingly, or both of us come to you and drag your sorry ass onto our ship. It's your call, but I would rather have you walk onto our new tub willingly and on your own power instead of being dragged kicking and screaming."

That was another surprise. Naruto wasn't going to take no for an answer, he either took her with him and Aayla or they would drag her along for the ride and Celeste could see in his eyes that he wasn't messing around with her.

He meant every word.

He smiled, "We're friends now, right?"

"Yes…" she uttered before she knew it, but she wasn't surprised by her response. It was what she had wanted but attempted to hide. She wanted friends now more than anything, "…yes, we are."

"Don't friends help each other when they're hurting?"

"Yes, they do," she allowed.

"Then let us help you," Naruto almost pleaded, "You may think you can do this alone, but take it from someone with experience: You can't get over this alone. Let us help you."

It seemed like an eternity to Celeste before she answered, for the longest time imaginable she had been fighting for control of her sanity and her mind. She had thought all hope was lost. Naruto and Aayla had taught her differently. Here were two people who wanted to help her; not only that, but they both knew a thing or two about loss, Naruto, most of all.

"Alright," she allowed after a moment, allowing a smile to grace her lips. Maybe there was hope for her in this new galaxy after all, "Alright, I'll go with you."

"That's my girl," Naruto smiled, "We'll be in the main room, looking over that YT-1300 freighter, if you're not there in five minutes we will come back to drag your sorry ass on board."

That surprised her. He talked as if he were talking to her through a comlink or a holo-wrist. "What?"

Naruto could only smile before he vanished in an explosion of smoke which made both Jedi jump from their chairs in surprise. The smoke cleared quickly, leaving only the two Jedi in the small room. Tholme could only continue to stare at the spot where the Shinobi had been.

"What in the name of the force was that?"

"I think that was a clone," Celeste murmured in response, before smiling, "I think I'll take him up on that offer."

* * *

"This is a hunk of junk," Bomo growled as he listened to the reports sent to him by Crys, Ko and Mezgraf. They had reported that the ship was pretty new and in good nick, but it was as basic as it could get. All of its systems were basic, its engines were factory standard and there wasn't a single weapon on her besides chaff and flares.

"Watch your mouth," Cristo growled a little. "She may not have many gadgets but she is a new ship."

"Couldn't you have at least armed her a little though," the Nosaurian scoffed. "No torpedo tubes, no defensive laser turrets... heck she has little more than basic ray shields. One blast from a turbolaser turret would reduce her to ash."

"We only got her recently, and it's the only ship we're willing to part with," the Colonel shot back mildly in irritation. "You can wait for us to do such defensive modifications if you like, but it'll cost you another twenty thousand credits and it'll take a month to do. We're a little low on money ourselves you know."

Bomo growled at the man.

"We'll take it."

Bomo looked over to see Aayla smiling as she looked over the freighter from a distance, a grinning Naruto by her side. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Aayla replied before looking at Cristo. "She is in mint condition?"

"Of course," the Colonel replied.

"Then we'll take it." Naruto added, grinning as he looked over the ship.

"You're going to have to find a place to upgrade her," Bomo sighed.

"Then we will," Aayla replied before looking at the Colonel. "Do you know anyone willing to upgrade a freighter without leaving much paperwork?"

Cristo smiled. "I think I could give you a couple of potential engineers."

"Great, then let's get her started up," Naruto smiled before something happened, his eyes became dilated for a split second as his dispelled clone returned his memories to him, then he grinned.

Aayla knew what that look meant, as well as Bomo who was smiling, "Well?"

"She said yes," Naruto replied as he wrapped an arm around his loves shoulder and pulled her in for a half embrace. "We have a third crew member."

"How long did you give her?" Aayla asked with a knowing smile.

"Five minutes before we find her and drag her along," Naruto shrugged. "That's plenty of time to get here."

"This really is it, isn't it?" Bomo asked with a sigh before giving the couple a wry look. "Don't forget to write. It'll mean a lot to Reza."

"I won't forget," Aayla smiled, "If you ever need help then just call."

"Always," Bomo grinned sadly, "We'll miss you, both of you."

"So have you decided on a name for her?" Quinlan asked as he looked over.

Aayla thought for a long moment before looking over at her love; her mate, "Naruto, you have the honour."

Naruto smiled as he looked at the ship, thinking for a moment before his smile intensified to a grin, "The _Will of Fire_."

Aayla looked at the ship for a moment before smiling, "I like that name."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__Alright I've tried to do it, I've tried to keep to a schedule, but now I have made a decision, to hell with a schedule. I'll just write them up, have them beta-read and then upload them after I do a second read. So here is the next chapter of the Good Left Undone, a day earlier than last week._

_**Author's Note 2: **__Right so I've received a lot of reviews on the Lemon topic I brought up last chapter, and the responses have been fairly positive, albeit with a lot of advice for caution and patience to make sure I get this right._

_The poll itself now has a total of 136 votes, these are split into 116 for, 7 against and 13 not sure, so that makes it pretty clear what the people want. I should keep the poll up for another week or so, so if you haven't voted yet it'll still be on my main page._

_The reviews and PM's, while also edging to the positive, were mainly asking me to go with my main idea, which is uploading the uncut chapter separately from the main story, to make sure that if I can't cut it as an erotica author then the main story won't be ruined, so that is what I am going to do. Personally I think I can do it, but I may need to consult a few erotica writers on this site beforehand._


	21. Eyes of Fate

_**Chapter 20**_

_**Eyes of Fate**_

Darkness was all that remained.

It was all he had left in the world. Taking revenge had been his obsession, first at his brother, then at his home village, both for destroying his family and taking everything he knew from him. His body and mind was now nothing more than a hollow shell of what it once was, filled with nothing but emptiness and despair, wistfulness of what could have been and guilt at what he had done on the path that brought him to what he now was.

Sasuke Uchiha stood on a small cobblestoned path, looking up at the sky, watching the dark clouds and the continuous pouring rain as it soaked his clothes and splashed his face. A Street light just illuminated his form in the darkness, and a bench was placed under it, barely a few feet away from him. He had thought that standing here in the rain would wash away some of his despair, but every drop which hit his face felt more like a smack than a balm.

He held out a palm, watching with dull onyx eyes as drops of water splashed against his pale skin, sliding through his fingers. He would blink sometimes to find that the rain had changed form to crimson blood. It had happened a lot since he awoke in this strange, foreign land. At first it terrified him, but now it didn't even faze him. It was his fate now, to be reminded of the blood on his hands.

He had lost count of the lives he had taken. Long before he came here he had simply lost count. He knew the number of lives of the men in white armour he took, nearly fifty or so know, including the ten bodies strewn across the stone pavement and surrounding ground, blood mixed with the torrents of fallen rainwater to create a blood-soaked quagmire of death.

That was all he had left now: his ability to kill, to take, to destroy. Having lived for this for so long, he now knew nothing else but to continue down this course until he found someone who could kill him. Sasuke wanted someone who would be considered his equal, someone who would take his head and just end it all.

He could only think of one person who was not just strong enough to do it, but had the right to do it. The Uchiha smirked at this, placing his hand against his face and chuckling away his dementia. Who would have thought that he would crave to be in the presence of that blond dope from his team? Naruto had the right and the will to kill him, and he allowed that chance to slip away.

"Maybe I should have let you take my head, eh Naruto?" he muttered to himself. "You would have gotten your revenge, and I would have finally been at peace."

He would never openly admit it, but deep within his mind there was a small part of him that wished to change the past, knowing that now with these experiences and emotions if the Sound Four had stood before him and offered him that bargain to become Orochimaru's apprentice then he would have spat in their faces and told them to go to hell.

If he had the chance now he would have probably thrown his lot in with the village, with what he now knew about the truth, the real truth, he would have probably burned Madara to a crisp the first meeting they had.

Itachi had been simply a pawn.

The village had been a pawn.

His clan had been a pawn.

Uchiha Madara was the puppet master.

The Jinchūriki had been his sacrifices.

Sasuke had been just another pawn.

Now he stood here, in an unfamiliar land with his strings cut and nothing was left save an empty shell; a shell who knew nothing but how to survive and how to kill. He looked up at the sky one last time before moving to and sitting down on the wet bench, uncaring of his current appearance. He leaned forward, resting his chin atop his clasped hands as he looked to the darkness, and the illumination of lights which represented the settlement beyond.

Pink hair, a flicker of it in the dim light, he stiffened at the sight, but did nothing else. Piercing soft green eyes, shoulder length pink hair, pale skin. She was dressed in a pink kimono decorated with falling Sakura petals. A beautiful and angelic sight and a sight he knew were neither solid nor real. He had wondered sometimes when he was alone, was she a ghost sent here to haunt him, or maybe just a sign of his destabilising mental health?

A slender pale hand, nails vanished a dark pink, caressed his cheek, causing him to flinch. As usual she said nothing, not a word or a peep, mute to his words or moods. He would look up to see the sadness and worry in her soft green eyes, and it would break his heart every single time. In a way this was his ultimate punishment, for her blood was on his hands.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" he muttered, looking down at the ground, another slender hand gently but firmly took hold of his cheeks and forced him to look right into her eyes. She had knelt before him, piercing gaze not leaving his. He managed a broken exhale of breathe. "Of course you won't, you are my punishment after all."

Her mouth opened, and his eyes widened in surprise. Her mouth moved, but words refused to be heard by his ears. Her eyes were slightly wide, her mouth moved. She was trying to tell him something. Finally he heard a voice, her voice, a voice which dominated his nightmares these days, speaking a simple few words, firmly and with total conviction.

"_Get up!"_

He blinked, and she was gone.

'the rains stopped,' he realised, looking up at the sky and shaking his head, allowing droplets of water to cascade from his wet spiky black hair. Then he heard other sounds, an inhale and exhale of breathe, mechanical in nature, continuous, rhythmic. He looked up at the exact place where his ghost had appeared to see a new individual.

This one looked nothing like his beautiful ghost.

This one looked like the Reaper.

He was dressed from head to toe in jet-black armour that reminded him of the Samurai he had fought against during the war. A black cape was hung around his shoulders, billowing slightly in the weak wind. In his black gloved hand was a cylindrical device. He took a few more steps, and Sasuke watched dully as his black boots slammed into the earth, sending water and blood flying.

He spoke, and his voice did not sound human, rather a mechanical façade, though it couldn't hide its owner's bemused curiosity, "Considering how effectively and completely you have managed to avoid and assassinate my troops, I had expected you to be more difficult to find."

Sasuke looked at this man, eyes peering over his clasped hands as he studied him with all of his senses, and he meant all of his senses. This man was not like the others, he was several leagues above them. When he looked at this man he felt…power…and darkness, as well. Neither of them moved nor spoke, all that could be heard was the mechanical inhale and exhale.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he slowly rose to his feet, onyx eyes studying this interesting creation in front of him. He closed his eyes and activated his Sharingan, studying him with the added clarity of his crimson eyes, "Interesting. Perhaps you will be the one to give me what I want."

"You will come with me," the black armoured figure said, unperturbed by his spinning pinwheel eyes.

"I don't think so," Sasuke replied flatly.

"My master would rather you be alive," the armoured man countered. "But he also said that death would be acceptable."

"Did he now?" Sasuke asked, face stony and expressionless, though he narrowed his eyes as he began to study this black devil that was fixing to become his next adversary, "I said no."

"That is not an option."

More presences, more footsteps. Sasuke's eyes darted left and right, seeing other figures illuminated by the low light. They were all dressed in black armour, with articulately bullet-shaped helmets covering their faces, black cloaks billowed in the wind as they walked, and in their hands, around waist level, were cylindrical objects similar in appearance to the one their leader held, but longer.

"How ironic, that the one sent to kill me is a kindred spirit," he sighed, looking up to meet the emotionless black mask of his assailant, "You're just like me, aren't you? We are both broken men, weighed upon by our guilt and the blood on our hands. Even though I can't see your eyes, I can hear it in your voice and see it in the way you carry yourself. The only difference between us is that you look as broken as you are."

There was no physical reaction, but there was a _snap-hiss_ as the cylindrical object in his hand came alive, a blade of crimson light igniting to form some kind of plasma-based sword. It reminded him of the weapon wielded by the Nidaime Hokage. Other _snap-hisses_assaulted his ears, and his eyes noticed that the dim illumination had taken on a blood-coloured tinge. The black-armoured soldiers held similar weapons, but there were two blades instead of one. They stood at his flanks and at his back, stoic and motionless as statues.

He counted twelve, including their leader.

"Are you all strong enough?" Sasuke asked, his hand gripping onto the hilt of his katana and drawing it slowly, listening to the grind of steel as it was unsheathed from its casing. His blade glimmered in the low light, liquid silver with a tinge of red, mirroring the lighting of the surrounding weapons as he pointed it right at their leader, "Perhaps you will be the ones to take my head and finally put my tortured soul to rest."

* * *

Naruto whistled as he looked upon the interior of the vessel. The _Will of Fire_wasn't an impressive starship, at least not when one looked at the warships he had seen pictures of, but by independent standards he still liked the ship. He and Aayla walked through its interior, Cristo following them as the Ranger Colonel explained the inner dynamics, most of which were beyond the Shinobi's ability to understand but well within the technical skill of Aayla.

"You are aware of the YT-series I take it, Knight Secura?" Cristo asked.

"I've flown on one once or twice," she replied.

"Well as you may know the YT-1300 series is a popular starship, mainly because of the many configurations its module based design could take on. This one is based on one of the two most popular designs, that of a passenger configuration, also known as the YT-1300p model." The colonel explained as the small group entered the main hold. "This design sacrifices the areas used for cargo and machinery in favour of multiple passenger modules, utilising the saucer-like design of the freighter to its fullest extent. There were also escape pods built into the sides, each capable of holding up to six people."

"So it's basically a people carrier?" Naruto asked.

"To put it simply, yes," The Colonel nodded. "But this type is more than that. The YT-1300 series is so popular because of its ability to adapt to any given situation. You could make upgrades to its structure with ease, change its interior configuration to whatever work you plan on doing. In short, it is the spaceships equivalent to a jack-of-all-trades."

Naruto grinned, liking the analogy. He was considered a jack-of-all-trades himself during his Shinobi career. He and this ship seemed tailor-made for each other, "I like this ship more and more."

Aayla shook her head; smiling at the blond's excitement in the very idea of gaining a ship he could call his own. She wouldn't be lying if she said she was more than happy to follow him, "We'll we've already said we'd take her."

"The payment also checks out," Cristo grinned.

"Do you know anyone willing to make a few back table modifications?" the Twi'lek asked.

The Colonel gave her a look before breaking out into a conspiratorial smile. "I believe I can put a few names out there, whether you decide to take them or not is entirely up to yourselves, Lady Secura."

"So," a feminine voice echoed through the corridors with a whistle of admiration, "This is what you guys have decided on?"

Celeste walked into the main hold, looking around for a moment before setting her eyes on Aayla, Cristo and Naruto. The blond was grinning her way, mirrored somewhat by Aayla's small smile. It was Naruto who spoke. "So you've decided to join us then?"

Celeste smirked, "Can't allow you two love birds to drive away by yourselves, now, can I? I mean, where's the fun in that?"

Naruto laughed at that, "I'm guessing not."

"You thought up a name for this tub?" the Shadow asked.

"The _Will of Fire,_" Aayla replied.

"I like it," The Shadow grinned, before offering a humble bow, "Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Celeste Morne, former Jedi Shadow, now a wandering soul with nowhere else to turn. I can pilot, but I was never the best, I am a first rate engineer though and I think this crate will need a lot of maintenance if _he_ is on it," she finished wryly while jerking her thumb in Naruto's direction.

Aayla smiled at that, before mirroring her lost sister's motions, bowing her head, "Allow me to reintroduce myself, as well. My name is Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight and former General in the Republic Grand Army. I am decent in mechanical work, though I wouldn't be all that confident in my abilities. I am a first rate pilot though, so I think that will be my job description."

Naruto smirked as he sat on the sofa at the other side of the room, a circular configuration of red leather in a semi-circular design; a circular white table was placed in the space in the middle. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm a decent pilot although according to Aayla I can't land to save my life, and my mechanical sense is pretty amateur at best, so I guess that leaves me in the Captain slot."

Both women snorted at that, causing Naruto to raise his brow in question, "What?"

"You are not the Captain," Celeste snickered.

"More like the hired muscle," Aayla added, smiling in mirth. "You would be more along the lines of a security chief, I think."

Naruto shot Aayla a mock-hurt look, before sending a pleading gaze over to the second female of this hastily established crew. "Celeste, come on, give me some support here."

The Shadow shook her head, giving him an apologetic look before grinning. It was nice to see her smile after what she had been through. "Sorry Naruto, but I agree with Aayla. You're our defence and our muscle."

"Traitors," Naruto muttered as he folded his arms and pouted. "This is sexist."

"Men," Celeste scoffed playfully, "Always using gender as an excuse."

Aayla giggled at that before leaning against the wall, folding her arms and looking at her two friends, well one friend and one... she never thought she would say this about herself... boyfriend and smirking ever so slightly, "I suppose the position of Captain will remain vacant for the time being, though I have an idea which I believe will satisfy everyone to fill that vacancy."

"Go on," Naruto sighed.

"Three months, three months for one of us to prove they are the most worthy of the title of Captain," Aayla explained. "This includes the basics including showing leadership skills, combat ability, decision-making and so on. Whoever shows these abilities in greatest measure within the next three months will be named the Captain of the _Will of Fire._"

"I like that idea," Naruto grinned.

"And I'm out," Celeste shook her head. "This isn't my ship, and I don't want to be her Captain. It's between you and Naruto."

Naruto looked over at the third member of their crew and sighed. "Alright, we'll make a decision on who will be Captain in a few months. Until then, where should we go to get this baby modified to our liking?"

"That's where I come in," Cristo replied with a grin before reaching into his jumpsuit, pulling out a datapad and switching the device on before setting it on the main table. It exploded to life in a cascade of light, showing a holographic view of a list of names and addresses, "These are the names of every engineering company in or around Nar Shaddaa that can upgrade a starship, both legally and illegally. If you want to do this quietly and with a few illegal modifications then I would narrow it down from fifty to twelve, eight of which are right here on Nar Shaddaa."

"Which one would you consider the most information-sensitive?" Celeste asked.

Cristo's grin retracted into a smile as he tapped a few runes onto his datapad, "Narrowing it down to three, all of which are here on Nar Shaddaa."

Naruto sighed, "Looks like we're staying here for a while."

Aayla smiled over at him, "Doesn't sound so bad. We'll just do what we planned to do on Esseles, except hopefully without saving any children from child-eating sociopaths."

Celeste frowned, "Child eating sociopaths?"

"A long story for another time," Naruto replied absently before looking over at her and smiling, "Just know that it had a semi-happy ending."

* * *

The _Slave I _was a rare kind of starship, one of six prototype _Firespray 31-class_ patrol and pursuit vessels created originally for the Republic Correctional Authority to transport prisoners. His father had stolen one during its initial flight tests, and since then it had been his pride and joy during life. Jango Fett had modified his new vessel, arming it to the teeth and replacing everything on her with more advanced, more reliable technologies including engines, weapons, thrusters, armour, shields, life support systems, targeting systems and tracking systems.

When his father died on Geonosis, the ship, as well as his father's weapons, armour and name had been passed down to his only living relative. His son, Boba, had taken over piloting and maintaining the vessel, using his father's contacts to keep her space-worthy.

He walked around the ship towards the entrance ramp at the rear, running his right hand along the surface of carbon scoring and faded red paint. The young bounty hunter had had his fill of this planet. His toll fee had been paid. His ship was refuelled and rearmed. He was leaving this god-forsaken ball of sludge.

Fett walked up the boarding ramp and then down the corridor towards the cockpit. He sat on the leather pilot's chair which was still a few sizes too large for him. Dropping his helm and gauntlets on the co-pilots chair he sat there for a long moment, leaning against the worn leather, eyes closed as he took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and began skimming through the controls of the main console before him; lighting began to blink to life on the many different runes and screens. He heard the engine of his father's ship sputter to life as a hum which slowly began to rise in volume to a growl.

"Nar Shaddaa control, this is _Slave-I_, designation identification D127654. Requesting permission to leave airspace, over?" he said as he activated the ships comlink system, listening as it crackled to life before a gruff male voice spoke over the static.

"_Nar Shaddaa control to Slave-I: you are clear to proceed. Go through AEC 12, over."_

"Roger that, control. _Slave-I_ out," Fett replied before cutting off the connection, placing his hands on the ships joystick he pressed a few more runes, feeling the docking clamps disengage and his atmospheric thrusters come to life, propelling him out of the clawed bays grasp and into space. He spoke softly to himself, reminding him of his exit path, "Going through Atmospheric Exit Canal 12, position of entry: thirty eight degrees north east, ten kilometres, remain at altitude of twenty thousand feet to avoid traffic... this was so much easier with dad here."

"_That's war, kid."_

A small smile graced his lips as he brought the ship up to the recommended height. "Yeah, that's war alright."

He needed to get away from this system. He needed to get away from bounty hunting. He needed to get away from his past. He just needed to get away from anything he knew. He needed time to sort through his feelings, get over his loss and mull over the words that blond-haired soldier had shouted at him during their struggle. Life was a gift, he had said, not something to be wasted.

"I need time," he muttered as he looked at his instruments, seeing that he was closing in on his exit vector. He shook his head and scoffed lightly, "I need to sort this out. I can't do this job the way I am now."

_"You lost your father? It was war, boy! And your father chose to participate in it! He died because his opponent was a split second faster than he was! It's tragic, but that's war! And in war, it's kill or be killed!"_

_"Shut up," Fett ground out._

_His opponents own voice lowered, but took on an ominous tone, "It wasn't personal, kid. They were just two warriors on opposite sides; that's it!"_

_"Shut up."_

_"Do you know how many Jedi died on that field, that blood-soaked field?" he asked, voice low yet carrying such anger. "Two hundred Jedi went in, less than twenty came out."_

_"Shut up!"_

_"You think you're avenging your father? Your father's killer was likely just avenging the comrades that he lost at your father's hands! That's war!"_

_"Shut UP!"_

_"And once you've had your fill of vengeance, how long is it going to be before someone comes seeking vengeance from you, huh? WHEN DOES IT END?"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

Fett sighed, covering his face with his left hand as he shook his head. Once he had managed to bring his ship into the exit vector, he set it on autopilot, closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair. He used the quiet to think; think for the first time since he left that dark alley. He was right; Naruto Uzumaki had been right. Two hundred Jedi went into that arena, and only twenty came out. The rest all died, every last one of them defending one of their own. It was noble, it was heroic, and it was supremely stupid.

Boba had forgotten all about the details of that day. All he remembered was crouching in the middle of an arena full of the wreaks of sparking battle droids and corpses, picking up the severed head of his father, still wrapped around his Mandalorian helmet and knowing that his whole world had come apart.

The sky made way to the starry darkness of space.

_He knelt down beside Boba Fett as he continued with a firm yet understanding posture, "Don't ruin your life over revenge, son. I doubt your father would want that, and the Jedi who killed him is probably dead already."_

_"He is," Fett managed._

_"Then someone has taken your revenge for you," Naruto replied as he stood up. "Don't aim your revenge at those who had no part in it."_

_"But your friend was there," he rasped._

_"I know, she told me." Naruto replied with a smile, a sad smile. "But she was nothing more than a soldier following orders. And sometimes she wakes up at night crying out the names of her friends who died in that coliseum. You're looking for revenge in the wrong place and honestly, she's suffered enough."_

"How many friends did she lose, I wonder?" he muttered before snorting softly at the irony of the situation, "Here we are: two victims of the same circuit, and I nearly sent her to her death for it."

_"You're young. You have a life ahead of you. You might meet a girl, fall in love, and have a family. I'll give you this piece of advice: cherish those you love. Do not abandon them or forsake them, because in doing so you waste your life and you may ruin the lives of those you leave behind."_

His eyes had been opened by that enigma of a man, and though confusion was still rampant in his mind, through it all one thing was certain.

Boba Fett had a lot of serious rethinking to do.

* * *

They were good.

Sasuke had to admit this barely a few seconds into their confrontation. The eleven warriors moved with superhuman speed and precision born from years of practise and experience. The first one to engage him was the third on his left, who jumped high into the air, curling his body into a ball to somersault and landing barely a meter away from him. The Uchiha raised his sword, unconsciously coating it in a layer of lightning chakra, and parried the crimson blade of plasma.

As quickly as the shadowy figure locked blades with him, he batted his katana away and spun, swinging the opposite blade of his double-sided sword in a diagonal arc. Sasuke parried that move too, circling his wrist to deflect the simmering crimson and launched into a counterattack with a probing forward thrust. The warriors head tilted to the side, just missing a deadly hit before jumping back just out of reach.

The faceless warrior rushed him again; double-bladed weapon spinning in his hands as he reengaged with a flurry of diagonal, horizontal and vertical swings, arcs and thrusts from his weapon, spinning on his heel as he fought. Sasuke had to admit that he wasn't fighting a lightweight. His swings were near-perfect and his movements were precise. This opponent would be considered a master of Kenjutsu back home.

But what else could he do?

Sasuke sidestepped him, seeing his opponent recover quickly and continue the attack, spinning his weapon like a baton as he danced. The blades were barely noticeable as deadly blurred light as they moved with precision. The Uchiha dodged some, parried others and deflected a few more before jumping back a few steps, free hand already coming up to form the one handed seal of the dragon.

His cheeks puffed as he gathered and manipulated his chakra, feeling the familiar heat build in his throat, ready for ignition upon exhale. He made a ring with his free hand then, finger and thumb forming a ring around his mouth before he blew out. A great fireball erupted forth, encompassing his opponent in its burning flames.

"_Katon: Kokyaku no Jutsu,"_Sasuke muttered as he blew out a puff of smoke. The flames continued to burn, and ashen smoke rose steadily into the sky. There was no movement from within the flames, nor was there any sound. He looked around, seeing the other ten black-armoured guards remaining where they were, double-bladed weapons ignited and held just in front of their waists. The devil with the mechanical voice didn't move either. He simply stood where he was, arms folded as he watched the confrontation.

"Anyone else?" Sasuke asked in a casual manner.

"You haven't killed him yet," the leader replied simply, stretching out with his right hand to point at the billowing flames behind him.

Sasuke frowned as he turned, and his frown deepened as he watched the black-armoured soldier walk through the flames, double-bladed weapon blazing. His black cloak alight with dancing flames. The warrior didn't even look back at his burning cloak. He simply reached up with his free hand, and pulled the cord, allowing the cloak to fall from his shoulders and fall in a smouldering heap on the grassy ground.

"I see," Sasuke murmured as he turned around, motioning towards the white-armoured corpses strewn across the field, "that armour is better than the ones on these poor souls."

The shadowy figure rushed forward with speed, swinging one of his weapons blades, which Sasuke easily parried. The Uchiha prepared himself to meet the following blow, but was unprepared, barely noticing it until he realised the blade did not move. He looked up in time to see a single finger aimed for his forehead. A powerful force struck him, and he felt pain flare before he was sent flying back, colliding with what could only be the park bench, feeling it shatter under his velocity before he finally came to a stop, slamming against the side of a thick wooden tree.

Sasuke coughed, feeling the pain flare across his forehead. He felt the warmth of his own blood as it flowed from his wound and down the bridge of his nose, tasting the coppery liquid as a little got into his mouth. He growled, showing his first emotion since the battle began before reaching up to wipe his forehead clean of the blood that threatened to blind him.

It seemed like a wind element technique; he had faced a few wind element users such as Danzo, the Kazekage's sister Temari, and Naruto. Was it a wind technique though? Sasuke hadn't sensed any dispersal of chakra at all, nor had he even felt chakra from these beings to begin with. So what was that move, and how was it done?

His hand flew up, flashing through the half-seals for the ram, horse, snake, dragon, rat, ox and tiger before feeling the same familiar fire-natured chakra converging in his throat, but nearly five times as powerful and as dense as the Grand Fireball he had used previously.

'The armour these guys are wearing is a lot stronger than the ones before,' mused Sasuke, intrigued with the opponents he was facing, 'so let's see if I can find its limits.'

He inhaled this time, adding more air to the chakra already in his lungs and throat as he shouted the name of his next attack in his head, "_Katon: Karyū Endan_!"

A stream of concentrated flame spewed forth unperturbed from his mouth, incinerating everything in and around its path as it closed the gap between him and his opponent. He watched as the shadowy figure extinguished the blades of his weapon before reaching towards the fire with both hands. Sasuke felt something converge on his palms, but he had never felt anything like it before. He continued to watch, eyes widening ever so slightly as the condensed stream of flame parted before the warrior, swirling around him but not touching him.

A bubble, he had created a protective bubble around himself. Such a technique, while not unheard off, was extremely difficult to cultivate and use. His mind still favoured that his enemy was using wind element chakra, but now he was having doubts. If it was wind it would have fed the flames, made them billow and expand, but they didn't. It simply seemed that he had created a protective barrier between him and the superheated fire, made up of…force; was he using gravity to repel the flames the same way Madara did with his Shinra Tensei? Or was it something else?

Sasuke continued to spew the flames forth, activating his Sharingan eyes to further study what he was seeing. The crimson bled into his onyx sclera, three tomoe-shaped black marks overlapping them, spinning wildly in perfect clockwise circles around his pupils. It wasn't wind element chakra. It wasn't chakra at all. There were no active chakra coils in his body; rather it seemed that he was manipulating the very environment around him, just like Naruto did when he activated his Sage mode.

"Interesting," he mumbled, and with a release of breath ended his attack.

"Will you surrender?" the leader asked again, a few moments after the last of his flames died away leaving little more than sporadic fire and scorched earth.

"No," he replied simply. "I've been used for someone else's ambition before, and I won't be used as anyone's pawn or tool ever again."

"So be it," the man replied after a moment of pause.

Three more black-armoured soldiers jumped from their perches. They landed behind their comrade before moving up to flank him, double-bladed weapons ignited and ready for battle. Sasuke watched them, his Sharingan active as he studied every little ounce of movement from them, reading their body language and preparing himself for the battle to come. It would be an interesting encounter. The young Uchiha stared at them with stone-cold, dead eyes, looking upon his four opponents as he raised his sword, pointing the tip right at them, bluish-white lightning crackling and snapping as it enveloped his blade.

"_Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana_," he muttered the name before breaking out into a run, bringing his blade up to his shoulder as both hands held the hilt.

His opponents were already moving straight at him, two breaking off to the right and one to the left as the original continued to meet him head-on. Sasuke sidestepped his opponent's running stab, seeing him moving in slow motion before he used the black-armoured warriors own momentum against him, his back connecting with his as he rolled over him and landed on his feet, spinning around as he swung his sword in a decapitating swipe.

The blade was intercepted, but not by his opponent. The man's back was still turned. The interception came from one of the two who had banked to the right. The first spun around, joining the second as they assaulted him with a flurry of blurring crimson blades. The Uchiha was forced to backpedal, hands manoeuvring his blade to where it was needed to parry and block.

It wasn't just their individual technique and skill. They appeared to quite a cohesive unit as well, running like a well-oiled machine. At least they seemed to know how to watch each other's backs.

Sasuke felt the shadow on his back, eyes widening and turning in time to see another one of these shadowy soldiers appear in a blur, trying to kill him by using a blind spot. He ducked, the crimson blade passing overhead, singeing his hair but doing little else. He spun around, seeing his opponent fatally overextended and stabbed out with his katana.

The blade, immersed in lightning chakra, punched clear through his armour, piercing his right torso and sinking into his body all the way to the hilt. The tip of the weapon exited his back in an explosion of blood and released lightning. His opponent emitted a full-bodied spasm, releasing his double-bladed weapon from his twitching fingers before falling onto his side. Sasuke barely had time to pull the blade from the body before he was once again forced to backpedal, blocking and deflecting the strikes of his first two attackers.

One down, eleven to go.

He was getting tired of this game.

"_Mangekyō Sharingan_!"

He felt his eyes morph into his clan's ultimate Doujutsu form, knowing that it was vastly different to his before his brother's eyes were transplanted into him, but still unsure of its shape. He knew that it was a melding of his own, a six pointed star, and Itachi's, a three bladed shuriken. At this point he didn't care. All he wanted to do was remove these pests.

"_Amaterasu_,"

Black flames exploded from around him, whirling and writhing in unnatural shapes and forms before exploding towards his three opponents. One wasn't nearly fast enough, and was just able to emit a cut off scream before the black flames encompassed him, eating away his clothing and armour before burning him to a charred black corpse. The other two raised their hands, once again calling forth two protective spheres of unknown energy around them.

Sasuke continued to watch, eyes narrowing when he saw that even the black flames of Amaterasu were unable to penetrate these defensive shields, yet he kept the pressure up, increasing the strength of his technique until he saw a reaction. The second opponent began to falter, his hands, arms, and his entire body twitching and shivering as he continued to resist. Then the sphere imploded around him, and he met the same fate as the one before, screaming in agony as the hellish black flames encompassed him.

The last one continued to resist, then he brought his hands together, not in a seal but to any other observer it would seem that he was praying. Once again Sasuke felt that weird energy encompass him, and then his opponent spread his hands. The energy released was impressive and it definitely was not a manipulation of wind. The black flames were suddenly pushed back as the sphere of protective energy expanded around him, then exploded in a mass of energy which was powerful enough to disperse the uncontrollable flames of Amaterasu.

The energy struck him, and he was once again thrown across the field with bone jarring force, slamming into a tree and feeling the bark crack as surely as he felt his ribs crack. Sasuke coughed up blood this time, but he did not fall nor go down to a knee, instead he used the trunk of the tree for support as he leaned against it, coughing and hacking before taking in huge gulps of air.

Then he laughed, a laugh with no joy in it, but instead carried with it an emptiness which was bone-chilling to all present, "Maybe you are worthy of taking my head, but there's just one more test you need to pass before I allow it."

His chakra became visible, first as a whitish-blue before bleeding and morphing into a dark, antagonistic violet. It expanded, and then took a shape, almost as if a spirit was attempting to break free from his body. A humanoid shape towered over him, seemingly dressed in some variety of ancient armour, plate-like pauldrons covering the shoulders. On the spectre's head was a crown of long horns. A bow seemed to materialise in its left hand, and as it raised its head it brought its right hand back as if it was knocking and preparing to fire an arrow.

"_Susanoo_," Sasuke declared, tilting his head to the side, ignoring the blood pouring from his mouth. He was tired, running for weeks and scavenging what little scrapes of food he could, barely able to sleep thanks to the nightmares and ghosts from his past. He doubted that he would be capable of more than a few shots, maybe they would be enough, and maybe they won't. This wasn't even the ultimate form of his clan's ultimate technique anyway.

Susanoo released the cord, allowing the arrow to fly. The black-armoured soldier already had his hands up, preparing for such a strike, but it was far too much for him. The arrow of purple chakra punctured through his protective shield as if it wasn't even there, piercing through his torso, disintegrating his heart and throwing him back at least twenty meters before landing hard, skidding to a halt and laying there, unmoving.

"I suppose you weren't the one after all," The young Uchiha looked on with bloodshot eyes, breathing hard and using all the last reserves of strength to stop himself from collapsing where he stood. He turned to the fearsome man that he likened to a devil, willing Susanoo to form another arrow. "What about you?"

He released the arrow.

It soared from his Susanoo's bow directly towards the torso of the leader of this impressive force. Sasuke watched, intrigued, when the devil-man stepped to the left and with an almost lazy motion raised his arm, grabbing the arrow before it passed him by. He looked at it, and with a simple motion snapped the arrow in two. An explosion of black chakra broke free, but the armoured figure barely seemed to notice. The release of energy barely enough to billow his black cloak before it disintegrated in his grasp. Watching this…embodiment of terror…catch and break one of Susanoo's arrows with such ease, caused Sasuke's intrigue to evolve into surprised shock. Even Madara wouldn't have been able to perform such a feat.

Just who WAS this guy?

WHAT was this guy?

Sasuke, with no more strength, allowed Susanoo to once again lay dormant, disintegrating into the winds of this depressing place. Not very many people were able to deflect the arrows of Susanoo; **nobody **had ever caught one with a bare hand and broken it. This Susanoo may not have been the strongest one he'd ever created, but anyone capable of blocking even such a relatively weak-powered arrow from Susanoo's bow was a worthy opponent indeed. Sasuke managed to croak out a laugh before his strength finally failed him and he fell onto his side, unmoving.

Darth Vader remained where he was for a moment, still feeling the after effects of the arrow. The weapon had burned through his armour, and had nearly pierced the final layer between that and his mechanical hands main components. He looked at his charred hand. "Hmm, more concentration next time."

He walked over to the fallen figure, kneeled before him and reaching out with his other good hand checked his pulse, "Still alive, but his pulse is weak."

He turned to two of the remaining Shadow Guardsmen and ordered, "Take him to my shuttle, make sure he is sedated and given proper medical attention."

Vader moved past the two as they shuffled toward the young man that had but a few moments ago been their adversary and picked him up gently, intent on carrying out their master's orders. Vader passed by the charred and blackened remains of the field, ignoring the three dead Guards at his feet, two of which were too badly charred to inspect and the other probably not worth his time. He came before a tree, looking up to see the body crushed against it, arrow disintegrating but body still imbedded. He reached up with a single hand, pressing the release on the body's helm, and pulled the helmet away, tossing it to the side.

He looked at the face of the lead Shadow Guardsmen, and behind his mask his eyes narrowed. His hands clenched into fists, leather and metal in his gauntlets creaking under the sudden strain, "So this is your new experiment, my master?"

* * *

_**Author's Alert 1: **__Just finished a six day long week and all I want to do is stay in bed with a bottle of beer and my tv switched onto the International football. Which I am doing right now Being in a forty hour a week job is very tiring, but I'm actually enjoying the training at FirstSource, stuck in a fifteen strong class of jokers, madmen and nutcases there is rarely a boring moment, lol. My training officially ends next Wednesday and I'll be placed in a working environment, let's see how long my optimism lasts. _

_**Author's Alert 2: **__The poll for the Lemon question will remain up until Wednesday next week, but let's be honest we all know what the result is going to be. So far a total of 224 people have voted, 188 for, 21 not sure and 15 against._


	22. When in Doubt, Improvise

_**Chapter 21**_

_**When in doubt, Improvise**_

It had been three weeks since the _Uhumele _left the planet, and since then they had taken their new ship to the other side of Nar Shaddaa, making contact with Cristo's allies, who were upgrading the _Will of Fire _with everything a potential smuggling vessel could need. They then rented out a small apartment about ten minutes away from the dock. The head starship mechanic, a burly whale-like Herglic named simply Shelov, had told them that it would take three weeks to fully upgrade the _Will of Fire _with what they wanted.

Aayla and Celeste had taken care of the majority of the list of upgrades, considering Naruto's first choice was to outfit the ship with a cloaking device which was way over budget and didn't work half the time. In the end the upgrades consisted of improving every single system from life support, to radar systems, jammer systems, targeting systems, ray shields, installing high-grade deflector shields, hidden compartments, two quad-laser ball turrets on the dorsal and ventral sides of the ship, a quartet of frontal laser cannons and twin hidden proton torpedo launchers. It all came to a total of fifty thousand Imperial credits, which left them with ten thousand credits in the bank.

Celeste frowned as she looked around, dark eyes scanning the crowd of sentient beings all around her, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

She had been sensing a nagging disturbance in the Force since she woke up. Celeste didn't know the cause of the disturbance, but something just felt wrong. She walked down the crowded main street, a bag of groceries in her arms as she navigated the packed mass of people with grace and skill. So far her little excursion to the local market had gone by without incident, so why did she feel like she was being watched?

Her eyes quickly looked up at the rooftops above, not seeing anything out of the ordinary there either. So after a moment she shrugged and decided to keep moving. Celeste was only a block away from her shared apartment now, and with Naruto's stomach the way it was she guessed the food would be needed pretty soon.

The crowd began to thin out as she turned a corner, leaving the main street behind her as she walked down the alley towards her apartment, located on the twelfth floor of a ninety floor block of flats. The skyscrapers stretched up all around her: simply-designed structures, each of which hundreds of people called "home"…including herself and her two friends, for now.

The three weeks had passed quietly and without incident. The three of them had fallen into a routine of relaxing and living as normally as they could. Naruto had passed the time by scribbling notes onto his scrolls, as well as teaching both Aayla and Celeste about chakra, though the Twi'lek seemed to be ahead of her in training.

Naruto had opened up her tenketsu points about three days after they had moved into the apartment. He had asked her if she would like to learn how to harness and manipulate chakra, and Celeste admitted that she was curious. She had no idea that there was such a reservoir of energy inside of her, and when he activated her chakra pathways the feeling of her chakra coursing through her for the first time was indescribable. She felt warm and tranquil when she attempted to harness her chakra, which was a healthy sensation, according to Naruto. On top of this, it was found that her raw, untrained chakra reserves were nearly as strong as Aayla's own.

He had spent the next few weeks teaching her the basics, how to make clones of herself, how to disguise herself and how to substitute her form for another solid object. He had begun to teach her how to walk up walls, though she admitted that she could barely make it more than a few steps before she lost control. Naruto was a good teacher, she would admit that much. His table manners weren't perfect, he was a little hyper, and he ate like a starving Bantha…but he was a good teacher.

He had been teaching Aayla this for some time, considering there were times where she would get in on the lessons. Naruto had even asked the Twi'lek to walk up the wall to give Celeste an example, which Aayla did with finesse and almost expert control. He had put both of their training on hold until two conditions were met, one being Celeste catching up and the second being a nice backwater planet with plenty of open space and few people.

Celeste had lived with these two for almost three weeks, and she had begun to see them as siblings in a way. Naruto was strong-willed and stubborn to a fault, and didn't give up on things easily. He could also be kind, gentle and tender, though with obvious rough edges. Aayla was also quite strong-willed, but in a more subtle sense; she was someone who won her arguments with reasoning and diplomacy, though when it came to Naruto and a few of his more idiotic ideas, she simply put her foot down and stood her ground. Naruto would always give up; she had yet to see him win against Aayla in this manner of conflict.

There was also the fact that she was sharing an apartment with a couple. The two of them seemed to be more than happy in showing affection to each other, both in public and in private. Snuggling together when they watched a holodrama, kissing each other and holding hands whenever the mood took them in that direction. There were times when they would just lay together for hours on the sofa, Aayla idly playing with Naruto's golden locks or Naruto idly caressing Aayla's lekku.

The two of them had made the evolution from best friends to a couple quite well. Celeste didn't mind the transformation; in fact she was happy for the two of them, but sometimes, just sometimes, she felt like a third wheel.

She knew she wasn't unwanted by the two of them, in fact she enjoyed the girl-talk she shared with Aayla and the training she had with Naruto. She enjoyed the three of them just acting normal, like they weren't fugitives being hunted. She enjoyed the times when the three of them shopped together, ate together, lived together and occasionally argued with each other over many different things.

The Force barked a warning, and the young woman obliged without hesitation, sidestepping to the right and stretching out her leg to trip the man who had rushed right at her. She saw a vibroknife in his hands, and by the outstretching of his right arm, she knew he was about to stab her in the back. He landed in a heap, rolling to a stop before hastily getting back to his feet, looking at her with angry eyes.

"You Jedi bitch!" he snarled before lunging at her again, and Celeste fell back on her years of training. She ducked his desperate swing, sidestepped a diagonal downward stroke and landed a perfect spinning heel kick to his chin, feeling the bone give way before he was thrown off his feet, landing on his back and groaning in pain.

Three other figures appeared from the darkness of the alley, all of them looking like they came from the rougher side of the neighbourhood. They wore ratty long-coats with dirty tunics and pants, two of them held vibroknives while the other was drawing a hold-out blaster. Celeste looked around her, and saw that she was completely surrounded.

Celeste sighed before throwing her paper bag of goods into the air, just as the three new thugs charged her with their weapons. She ducked one stab, sidestepped another and jumped, spinning her body in midair and spreading her legs to deliver a kick to the side of the heads of two of her assailants. They flew in different directions, landing in unmoving heaps. She landed perfectly and raised her hand in the direction of the final thug, ripping the blaster from his grasp and tossing the weapon to the side.

The bag landed in her arm and she began to walk.

The young man in front of her took an involuntary step backward before reaching to the small of his back and pulling out a vibroknife. He then roared a battle cry and charged her. Celeste didn't even make a move to dodge. She simple grabbed his wrist with her free hand and twisted it to the point of snapping. The blade fell from his suddenly lifeless fingers as the thug screamed in pain, grabbing onto his broken wrist and falling to his knees. A chop to the side of his neck sent him falling face first to the ground, unconscious.

The former Jedi shadow continued to walk, sighing heavily. "We've been found."

She rummaged into her pant pocket, pulling out a tiny ear piece, a miniature comlink device which she placed in her ear and pushed the rune. There was a beep, and then the accented voice of her Twi'lek best friend filled her ear, "Celeste?"

"I was ambushed by a few thugs in the alley," she said simply as she entered the foyer to their apartment block and walked to the turbolift.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. All four of the little delinquents are unconscious, with either broken cheekbones or wrists, but I'm fine," she smiled as she entered the lift and pushed the rune for the twelfth floor. The double doors closed and the turbolift gave a sudden lurch. It took two seconds for her to reach her designated floor. The apartment she shared with her two friends was down the main hall, fourth on her left, "I think we've been found."

"I know."

"You know?" Celeste repeated with a sigh as she rummaged through her jacket pocket, producing her security card and swiping it over the electronic lock, hearing a click as the door to their flat opened. The Jedi shadow entered the room. "How do... you... know?"

The living room was a mess, the glass table was smashed, chairs and sofa were overturned, vases and other fragile pieces of art were in pieces all over the floor and the main window overlooking the Nar Shaddaa cityscape had been completely shattered, a cold biting wind assailing her. Aayla's head peeped around the corner, smiling a little nervously.

"Let's just say we had some uninvited guests," the Twi'lek sighed as she pulled her own earpiece from her ear.

"Was this Naruto?" Celeste asked immediately.

"I resent that," the blond barked in reply, out of her sight.

"Actually, it was me," Aayla replied, flinching at Celeste's glare, "It was instinct. They entered through the window and I simply sent them out again."

"Force push is awesome," Naruto called as he rounded the corner, looking at the destruction and whistling in what seemed to be immense respect, "We Shinobi have mastered all of the elements, created illusions and made complete clones yet we cannot simply telekinetically throw people through the air, well a few can but they usually have some weird bloodline limit."

"How many were there?" the black haired woman asked.

"Four," Aayla replied. "All of them looked like your common thugs, which is strange considering the equipment they came in here with."

Celeste saw descending cords by the window, probably tied to something on the roof. She also noticed what looked like a military grade blaster carbine lying on the tiled surface of their balcony, "Local thugs parasailing down a ninety-storey building…with military grade weaponry?"

"Most logical conclusion: they weren't local thugs," Naruto finished as he looked at the two of them, "We're dealing with mercenaries or Imperial troopers, and considering we're still in Hutt Space, I would go with mercs."

"Most likely under contract from the Empire," Aayla added, already moving to the room she and Naruto shared.

Naruto continued, "Ladies, it's time to pack up and leave. The ship should be ready sometime today, so we'll just go to the docks, pick her up and get the hell out of here before things get any worse, and in this system, it always seems to when bounty hunters get involved."

Celeste clucked her tongue before putting her hands to her hips and shaking her head, "Hutt Space hasn't changed much since my time it seems."

"I feel sorry for the landlord," Naruto murmured, "Looks like he's going to miss the next payment."

Celeste scoffed, "The landlord's an ass."

"Which is why he's going to miss the next payment," Naruto smirked.

* * *

The _Reprisal_ was a kilometre-and-a-half long warship built for the sole purpose of obliterating its opponents. One of the newly commissioned Imperial-Class Star Destroyers_,_it was half a kilometre longer than its Venator-Class counterpart and carried almost three times the firepower. In time, Imperial-Class Star Destroyers like the _Reprisal _would completely overtake their Venator-Class cousins as the mainstay of the newly-reformed Imperial Starfleet.

The _Reprisal _was also Lord Vader's flagship. Almost all of her crew was handpicked by him, from the actual crew to the marines and stormtroopers, and they all knew the price of failure. Of all the men and women serving on board, whether enlisted personnel or commissioned officers, there were only a handful that Vader had not chosen personally.

Those eleven, whittled down to seven, were the warriors in black armour, similar in appearance and stature to those of the Emperor's revered Red Guard except for their choice of weaponry. While the Red Guard was known for carrying specialised blasters or their renowned force-pikes. These Guardsmen carried only one item, a double bladed lightsaber hilt, strapped to their black utility belts, hidden away by their black cloaks.

The crew had already called these Guardsmen by several names, some called them the Black Guard, others the Shadow Guard and others still simply called them Shadows. Their official name was still unknown to the crew, but one thing was certain. These Guardsmen were the same as Lord Vader, capable of using the force and more than adept enough to fight and kill with a lightsaber.

Darth Vader knelt before the holographic visage of his master, head bowed and long cape draped over his form. The Emperor raised a hand, "Rise, my friend."

Vader did so, rising back up to his full indomitable height.

"What news have you to report on your assignment?"

"The presence you felt was that of a man, quite powerful, with abilities I have never seen before. We were able to capture him, my master, but four of your soldiers were killed in his capture," Darth Vader reported in his usual flat tone, taking great care to show no sign that he had seen underneath one of the helmets of his master's new troopers.

"The loss of four Guardsmen, while heavy, is acceptable," Palpatine was silent for a moment, looking at Vader with a piercing gaze behind the darkness of his hood before he spoke again, "So the fugitive has been captured?"

"Yes, my Master," Vader replied with a nod.

"Then there is little time to waste. He must be delivered to Coruscant with all due haste," Sidious said, almost as if he were deep in thought, "How soon can you arrive?"

Vader inclined his head, "I should arrive within the week."

"Excellent."

"What is the importance of this man?" Vader asked, looking up at the holographic image of the most powerful man in the Galaxy.

"If delivered to us, I foresee the end of an old era, and the beginning of a new," Sidious simply replied, "All will be explained in due time, my apprentice."

Vader didn't like the answer, but he didn't press the issue any further, "Yes, my master."

The holographic image faded from view, leaving Vader alone in darkness. In the galactic centre of the known galaxy, on the planet Coruscant in the former office of the Chief of State, now the temporary offices of the Galactic Emperor, Dantius Palpatine sat in his chair, hands clasped together as the blinds opened, spilling sunlight into his private domain.

The old Sith Lord didn't utter a word or even the slightest sound. He rose from his chair, robes shifting as he circled his impressive desk, running a pale, gnarled hand along the polished material as he walked into the centre of his chamber to a small holographic table, recently installed. He twitched his hand, activating it and watching as the room was bathed in light. Images exploded into the air, each showing faded and blurred images of the young man recently captured.

"One down," he muttered, twitching his fingers again.

An image appeared in the foreground of all the others, one taken from a high up bird's eye view. It showed a desolate, pocketed landscape with a single small figure standing in the middle. He magnified until he began to make out details about this man. Blond hair, tanned skin, wearing strange clothes and capable of such a disturbance in the force that it was, for lack of a better word, intriguing.

He magnified the image again, watching as the image zoomed in until he saw his face, whiskered cheeks, tanned skin, blue eyes which seemed to be locked with the screen, as if he knew the spy drone was there. This man looked like a soldier, a warrior and out of the two disturbances that the gnarled old man had been sensing in the last few months, it was this one which caused him the greatest intrigue…and the greatest concern.

It might have been best to wipe this man off the face of the planet.

The Force was what stopped him from giving such an order. There was something about this man, something that told the ancient Sith that if he could be captured…then the possible benefits could be immense.

He looked at the image for a long moment before finishing his sentence, "One to go."

* * *

"This is a lot more than a small gang of bounty hunters," Aayla muttered as they closed in on their destination. She had used her Henge to transform into her favourite alias. Her skin changing colour from cerulean blue to a deep maroon red, black tattoos covering her exposed flesh and deep black eyes.

"I agree," Celeste muttered, herself using the advantages the Henge offered to transform into someone else as well. She now had the look of young Mirialan woman with shoulder length black hair, tanned skin and diamond like tattoos running along the bridge of her nose down to her cheeks.

Naruto had to admit that she was also learning how to mould and channel her chakra almost as quickly as Aayla did as he looked over at the checkpoint, transformed from his usual look to that of his late friend Shikamaru Nara. There were at least six mercenaries at this checkpoint, two Rodians and four Trandoshans all armed with basic armour and blasters. It was the third such checkpoint they had seen during their journey from their ruined apartment to the dry docks where their ship was being modified.

"Do you think Shelov sold us out?" he asked in a low tone.

"Either him or one of his crew," Celeste nodded, "He may be a contact of Cristo, but I doubt all of his crew are."

"So you think one of them blew the whistle and now every hunter within fifty kilometres will be converging on this spot," Naruto sighed.

"No, they're more organised than that," Aayla said as she pressed her form into Naruto's side, his arm around her protectively. "My guess is that somebody tipped off one of the Hutts as to our location, and said Hutt is expecting a payday in Imperial credits."

"How many mercenaries can one of these Hutts possess?" Naruto asked. Aayla and Celeste had told him plenty of tales on the Hutt crime lords, none of them flattering. The Hutts ruled this area of space, and they were neck-deep in every illegal and criminal act in the galaxy from slavery to racketeering, from drug-dealing to smuggling. They didn't look all that enticing; they were in fact the ugliest things Naruto had ever seen…but they were smart, they were rich, and they were powerful.

It was never a good idea to piss off a Hutt.

"Depends on the Hutt," Aayla whispered into his ear. "The weakest crime bosses usually have a few dozen mercenaries under their employ, but the more influential they are the more people they have. The strongest Hutt crime lords probably have hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions under their employ."

"And not just mercenaries," Celeste added as she mirrored Aayla's move, sticking close to Naruto and allowing him to put an arm around her, eyes carefully scanning left and right for any mercenaries going incognito in the streets, or taking up sniping positions in windows or atop the surrounding buildings. To anyone who bothered to look, Naruto appeared to be a bored playboy, and she and Aayla were his exploits for the evening.

Celeste continued, "Drug dealers, criminals, informants, thugs, assassins, slaves, even members of the civil service can be under the employ of a Hutt. They have their grubby fingers on everything, both legal and illegal."

"You two don't have a very nice outlook on the Hutts," Naruto quipped.

"I haven't met a decent one yet," Aayla replied, "My people are considered an enslaved race to the Hutts. A girl like me would be considered a prime candidate as one of their trophies chained to their thrones. It would have probably been my fate if Quinlan and Tholme hadn't saved me."

"They haven't changed much from my time, then?" Celeste sighed as she continued to look around. "I spot three hidden away within the crowd, and another two on the rooftops. There might be more."

"How far away is the dock?" Aayla asked with a sigh.

"Another block or so," Celeste replied lowly. "We're probably going to find a little resistance when we get there."

"Sith me," Aayla muttered as she took out her little earpiece and secreted it into her ear. She pushed the button lightly and there was a beep before someone answered.

"_Hello?"_

"Master,"

"_Aayla?"_

"Plans have changed," she whispered as she looked around, "We were visited by a merc wet team."

"_Are you alright?"_ Vos asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"We're fine, but the wet team can't say the same," Aayla affirmed as they turned a corner, the docks now in sight, "We're taking this chance to bug out before they realise we're gone. Thank you for everything Master, and please give my love to Tholme, T'ra, Khaleen and Korto."

"_Understood,"_Quinlan replied, pausing for a moment before speaking again. _"When the three of you are free and clear contact me on the private line. There is something I need to talk to you about."_

"Understood Master," Aayla confirmed, before shutting off the line with a simple word, "Out."

"Should we just walk in?" Naruto asked.

"Not a chance," Celeste replied, giving him a look.

"Figured as much," Naruto sighed before giving Celeste a wry look, "What, did you think I actually would?"

"Into that side alley," Aayla whispered and the three of them made a sharp right turn, walking into a dark alley. Naruto looked up to his right, seeing the huge form of the docks where their ship was situated. Aayla undid her Henge, followed closely by Naruto and Celeste as the three of them looked up.

"Time for a little exercise," Naruto muttered, pumping chakra into his feet and knees before launching high into the air, hands gripping onto a steel girder and using his bodies weight as momentum swung a full hundred and eighty degrees, landing on his feet and crouching down with his hand held out. Aayla used the force to jump high, her slender hand reaching out for his. He grabbed it and pulled her onto the girder with little effort before mirroring the move when Celeste made her jump.

The three of them ran in a straight line down the girder, looking to their right and left to see the majesty of the sector's dockyards, made up of huge multi-storey hangers, each capable of holding dozens of starships of different shapes and sizes. Naruto pumped chakra into his limbs again and took off, zipping up another ten meters to make it to the next flat surface, another grid of steel girders, Aayla and Celeste following his lead.

Finally he saw something he needed: a window with the glass shattered through. He remembered that there were quite a few of these built into the hanger where the _Will of Fire _was docked, and most of them were missing glass. He jumped high, hands grasping onto the ledge and once again, using his momentum, he flipped onto the frame and stepped onto the structure's main support system between the walls and the roof: a grid of thick, crisscrossing transparisteel girders. He helped Aayla and Celeste up, then led them on a deceptively peaceful-looking walk along the central girder, looking down at the bustling mass of people far below.

It didn't look like much had changed in the docks. Ships were still in place, and the majority of them were still being worked on by the Chief Mechanic's deck crews. It wasn't until he activated his Sage Mode and looked at the scene with the enhanced eyes of this state that he began to see those who shouldn't be there.

There were at least fifty mercenaries in the docks, all of them armed to the teeth. None of them looked like they were in the mood to mess around with anyone. His eyes picked up the emotions of the surrounding crews simply by body language: many were scared, and many were agitated by the presence of these thugs in their work place.

"Naruto," Aayla whispered. "What do you see?"

"At least fifty mercenaries and a lot of scared people," The blond sighed as he looked around, noticing Celeste look at his eyes with a mix of worry and trepidation. He only remembered then that she had never seen him in Sage mode before.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" she asked.

"Don't worry. I'm not turning Sith on you." Naruto joked as he deactivated his eyes. "It's just a kind of special ability I have, called Sage Mode. I'll explain it to you once we're off this rock."

Celeste nodded her head, knowing that when Naruto made a promise he kept it, no matter what. Clearly there was a lot about the Shinobi people he came from that she didn't know.

"First things first," Aayla broke in quietly, "We need to find Shelov."

Naruto nodded, "Probably in his office."

* * *

Shelov had been in the business of starship modification for close to fifty years. He knew the dangers and cautions of his trade, and he knew how to survive this lawless planet without gaining the ire of the Hutt crime lords. However, Shelov liked to consider himself of an honourable sort: if someone came to him wanting a Starship modified, whether legally or illegally with no questions asked, then he was happy to do so…as long as they made their payment and didn't run their mouth off about his more unsavoury activities.

Shelov was of the Herglic people, a race of water-born mammals from the planet Giju in the Tapani sector. Despite their water borne ancestry they were bipedal, with arms and legs instead of fins and flukes. They were large compared to most other races, and much wider too, usually between three and four times the size and mass of a regular humanoid. His people were well-known for being peaceful and gentle, but if they were insulted or the victim of an act of aggression there were few more deadly than an angry Herglic.

At the moment Shelov could be considered agitated by the current state of affairs, one of his newer mechanics had gone and blabbed about his business modifying a starship belonging to a few Jedi to the proper authorities, and now here he was: under guard by an entire battalion of mercenaries sent by several allied Hutt crime lords. The docks of the sector were closed off and monitored, his workers were agitated and scared, and he was considering several different ways to deal with the whistle-blower when he found out who it was.

He heard the unmistakable sound of weight colliding with his floor, and looked up in time to see the blond haired employer sitting on the guest chair on the other side of his desk, looking relaxed and carefree as he put his feet up and placed his hands behind his head. "You seem to be having trouble, Shelov."

The huge Herglic chuckled, his blowhole blowing out air as he laughed. "Some moron decided to go mouthing to the neighbouring Hutt."

"So it wasn't you?"

"I am insulted, considering you know of my reputation," Shelov responded.

"Good point, as long as someone pays what he owes you nothing will go wrong," Naruto shrugged as he leaned forward, "but…something has gone wrong."

"Agreed, and for this problem to be fixed I need you three out of my blubber as soon as possible," Shelov replied, "I don't care how many of the Hutt's goons you have to kill, but don't make it look like I had any part in it. As far as they know I am an unknowing party in all of this…and I would like it to stay that way."

"No problem," Naruto nodded before looking around, "What about surveillance?"

"The room is soundproofed, and I will take care of the cameras," the huge mammal replied.

"And the _Will_?"

"Ready to go," Shelov smiled. "We finished her a few days ago. I was wondering when you were going to call in, actually. Don't worry about anyone guarding it. I made sure the mercenaries guarded the wrong ship. You're worst fear is a handful of guards, well spaced out."

"Sounds good," Naruto smirked before reaching inside his flowing long-coat, pulling out a small data-card and setting it onto the table, "The last payment for the modifications."

Shelov looked at the card for a moment before taking it and putting it through his holo-computer. He waited for a moment as the funds went through, took out the chip and tossed it back to his client. "I only took half of the last payment. Consider it an apology from my company for such... unruly behaviour."

"That'll come in handy," Naruto quipped as he pocketed the chip, "Anything else before we leave?"

"It'll be nice if you knew the identity of the whistleblower," Shelov muttered before looking up at the human and grinning, "I would have liked the pleasure of firing him in person."

"I'm not that good," Naruto smirked.

"A pity," the huge whale-like mammal murmured as he leaned back into his chair, watching as the blond haired human vanished in a blur of motion, out of sight, "I suppose I'll have to see to it myself then."

* * *

There were six of them in a standard guard formation. That was good, considering the security net didn't seem to be centralised around their ship. The _Will of Fire_was situated at the far end, third closest on the right from the open entrance to the huge hanger bay. There were three mercenaries close to the ship, spread out with their rifles held idle and their eyes alert.

"I see three," Aayla murmured to her companion.

Celeste looked around for a moment before nodding her head in agreement, "Three... yes, three."

There was a thump and a shiver as something else landed on the steel support girder, and both women looked around to see Naruto landing right beside Aayla in a crouch, eyes darting left and right before turning to them, "Three of them?"

There were definitely three near the _Will of Fire_. The closest was Rodian, armed with a blaster repeater and dressed in light armour skulking around the front of their ship. The next closest was a Duros, walking slowly and carefully with his blaster rifle held rigid and ready, barely ten meters away from their ship. The last one was a Quarren, sitting on a set of mobile steps and looking bored and half asleep.

"Aayla, you have the Rodian," Naruto said as his eyes scanned the area for anymore less than noticeable opponents, but the storage unit was mostly quiet. "I'll take the Duros. Celeste you have the Quarren, let's deal with these guys in a few seconds, got it?"

"Got it," Aayla agreed.

"Yeah, don't worry," Celeste added, already calculating her rate of trajectory to her target.

"Ready?" Naruto asked as he tensed.

"Yes," his two companions replied in unison.

"Let's go wild."

They dropped from their perch in unison, each with a different target and each willing to finish that target as quickly and quietly as possible. The three crewmembers of the _Will of Fire _dived towards their enemies. The first one to hit their target was Naruto, narrowing himself out into a perfect swan dive. Just before touching down, he released a breath of concentrated wind chakra from his lungs, slowing his fall. His target didn't know what hit him: Naruto grabbed the back of his head and slammed it down against the concrete floor, crushing his target's head and killing him in a single, quick movement.

The Quarren Celeste targeted didn't have a chance either. The force push she released to buffer her fall also hit the mercenary head on. Slamming him to the ground with such force that the three of them heard bones shatter. The Quarren was dead just as quickly as the Duros Naruto had dealt a lethal blow to.

Aayla's had been more difficult because of his position, but she didn't let that stop her. Pulling a trio of kunai knives from the pouch Naruto had given her she aimed carefully and let them fly. The three knives hit their mark with almost medical precision, two into his right and left shoulders while the third pierced through his forehead into his brain. The kill was quick and the victim felt nothing.

The three of them hit the ground at the same time, their targets dead and with a clear run to their ship. Naruto put a hand on Celeste's shoulder, and his friend listened, "Get the engines warmed up, me and Aayla will cover you."

The former Jedi Shadow nodded before making a beeline for their ship, disappearing up the ramp and into the vessel. Naruto and Aayla backed up until they were within a step to the rampway. Then they waited. The hum of their freighter soon filled the storage unit, and the three surviving mercenaries were soon firing upon them, one of them was definitely calling for reinforcements.

Aayla was in the process of drawing her lightsaber hilt from her utility belt, but Naruto put a hand on hers, stopping her from drawing it and leaned over, whispering into her ear. "I think it's time we tested the security blasters, don't you?"

She nodded hesitantly, "What about you?"

Naruto grinned in response and brought his hands together into his favourite seal, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Six perfect clones of her love appeared in a v-formation between the only breach between the mercenaries and the ship. The central one, who she knew was him, looked over to her and smiled before he spoke, "I'll deal with them. You tell Celeste where the controls for those security guns are."

"You better get aboard," Aayla warned as she turned to the ship.

Naruto shrugged, "Of course I'll get on board."

Aayla looked her mate in the eye for a moment before nodding and making a run for the ramp of their ship, Naruto remained, shared a look with his clones and then smiled. "You guys heard her right. We'll be in trouble if something happened to us."

"Damn right we will," the one to his right quipped.

"We're ready for anything, boss," another spoke up.

"Get your sorry ass aboard, we'll deal with them," the second to his left spoke up.

"Give us a few more hands though," the last on his right added with a grin.

Naruto grinned before once again making the simple cross shaped hand seal, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Another six clones appeared, and upon their arrival all twelve shadow clones burst into action, taking off in opposite directions for the perfect ambush positions. Only one of his clones remained, who looked over at him and grinned. "Get your ass on that ship, boss."

Naruto gave his clone a look before sighing and nodding his head. He then spun on his heel and made a run for the _Will of Fire_. The last clone watched his master go, before turning back to the entrance of the hanger and the three remaining mercenaries who were obviously now calling in reinforcements.

"Time to rock and roll," his clone muttered before taking off with a chakra propelled leap, "Let's give these clowns a fight they'll never forget."

They moved quickly, Aayla breaking into a running jump over the high back of the pilot's chair and settling in with little fuss, pulling the crash webbing and safety harness over her as the pilot's chair moved into position. The young woman's hands were already moving swiftly over the console, activating all necessary systems and inputting the commands.

Celeste took the navigator's chair, bringing up a map of the system and all of her main and secondary trade routes to other systems as she secured herself with the safety harnesses. The hum of the _Will of Fire's _engines was slowly rising in pitch to a low roar, a sign that she was almost ready to take off.

Naruto took the co-pilots chair, strapping himself in as he looked through the cockpit to see the skirmish taking place in front of them. His clones had ambushed the contingent of mercenaries pouring through the main hangers, setting upon them with kunai and shuriken. But it seemed that most of the fifty mercenaries were responding to the call, and blaster fire soon zipped and zoomed through the air, leaving scorch marks on the walls and the hulls of the surrounding ships.

"Better get a move on, Aayla. Looks like they're trying to close the blast doors," Naruto said as he watched the skirmish. His clones had already lost half of their number; obviously these mercenaries weren't your run-of-the-mill scum.

"It'll take a few more moments," Aayla replied, hitting buttons and pressing runes with speed. "Naruto, the mechanics should have installed those hidden blaster cannons. Their controls should be on your right."

"Got it," Naruto replied, quickly finding the controls and pushing the necessary runes. A hidden compartment on the _Will's _ventral section opened, and an automated hidden blaster cannon lowered. The blaster cannon locked onto the nearest mass of life signs and opened fire, spewing beams of crimson light into the surprised horde of mercs. Five of them fell to the hail before the rest were forced to find cover.

"That is so cool," Naruto exclaimed with smug excitement.

"Let's hope Shelov installed everything else or this will be one short trip," Aayla said hurriedly as she finished the last of the preparations before pressing her right hand on the control yoke. "Let's punch it!"

There was a howl as the thrusters of the _Will of Fire_fully activated, forcing her to rise into the air. Aayla piloted the vessel with skill from years of training, manoeuvring her around a boxy shaped TL-1200 Freighter before pushing her forward through the huge double doors of the small holding chamber, her hidden blaster cannon swivelling right and left as she fired small salvoes of blaster fire into any merc stupid enough to leave their cover.

Aayla pulled the _Will of Fire_out of the hanger, pushing her into a sudden turn which left her rear scrapping across the durasteel of the opposite wall before pushing forward on the throttle, sending her flying through the high ceiling of the main docking chamber, blaster fire lit up the floor as mercenaries opened up, but the fire was not strong enough to do anymore than leave black scorch marks on the armour.

The _Will of Fire_flew past a blurring mass of docked and landed starships and freighters before exploding through the huge double doors of the main exit well before anyone tried to close them, sunlight spewing through the cockpit windows which dimmed the moment the rays of light hit. Naruto smiled as he deactivated the hidden blaster, knowing that it was even now rising back into its hidden compartment.

"We're going to have to make an illegal exit," Celeste muttered as she continued to sift through the mass of information, trying to find an AEC which was quiet enough for them to force their way into. "We can probably expect some form of pursuit once we break deep orbit."

"What can we expect?" Naruto asked.

"For a ship this small, probably a few patrol boats, nothing that can keep up with her," Celeste answered, pushing a few runes and allowing a smile. "I've got one, twelve kilometres southwest, designated AEC 51."

"Got it," Aayla replied as she looked at the needed change in position and altitude before making those changes. There was a voice crackling through the main comlink, 'in Huttese' Naruto thought, 'probably telling us that we're entering an exit canal without permission.'

Aayla switched the comlink off with her free hand.

"What was he saying?" Naruto asked.

"The usual crap," Aayla replied with a grin. "You are illegally entering an exit canal, divert your course, land and prepare to be boarded."

"Like hell we will," Celeste scoffed from her seat, "Entering canal in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Punch it!"

Aayla did so, bringing the _Will of Fire _into a steep climb. The sudden extension of G-Forces forcing all three members of the crew crashing into the back of their seats, but the Twi'lek Jedi pilot held firmly onto the yoke, and within mere moments the smog covered sky made way for the starry darkness of space. Naruto whooped in delight, enjoying the ride before the G-Forces subsided.

"We've got company," Celeste called a few moments after they broke orbit. "Looks like a trio of patrol boats are coming right at us."

"Time to move," Aayla murmured as she pushed the throttle forward as far as she would dare. The _Will of Fire _exploded into motion, going to its ultimate speed within mere seconds of the throttle being pushed, "How's that?"

"They're struggling to keep up with us," Celeste grinned from her seat, enjoying the adrenaline from the chase.

"Then I'm going to need coordinates for a hyperspace jump," Aayla replied.

"Got it," Celeste nodded as she began to work. "Give me thirty seconds."

Naruto grinned before something got his attention, a very large blip on the radar screen, "Uh girls, there's something up ahead."

"What kind of something?" Celeste asked as she continued to input a possible course.

"It's something very big."

"Maybe it's a freighter," Aayla thought out loud as she began inputting commands, "Bringing up a visual."

"A freighter…this far away from the official traffic lanes?" Celeste muttered.

"It's a bit too big to be a freighter as well," Naruto said to himself.

"Bringing it up now," Aayla finished, inputting the last few commands and watching as a holographic image appeared in the middle of the main flight console. The two Jedi's eyes widened at what they saw. There was no mistaking that arrowhead-shaped form, the separated bridge and control towers, even if it's colour scheme had been changed from the Republics red and gold to the stark gray of the Empire.

"That's no freighter," Naruto muttered.

"It's a Star Destroyer," Aayla finished with wide eyes, "A Venator-class Star Destroyer."

"Take evasive action!" Celeste called.

Aayla was about to reply, when the controls on her side of the console dimmed, signalling a change in control from the pilots side of the main console to the co-pilots side. Her head snapped to her right to see Naruto take the yoke with wide eyed shock, "Naruto, what are you doing?"

Naruto grinned, "Improvising."

He grabbed the throttle on his side of the cockpit and shoved it forward past the recommended safety speed, and both girls found themselves shoved into their chairs from the sudden acceleration of G-Forces. The ship flew forward with almost-blurring speed, heading right towards the Star Destroyer blocking their escape.

The warship was already firing at them, long lances of green light flashing from her secondary gun emplacements. Naruto moved the ship, zigzagging and corkscrewing in wide angles and arcs, dodging the first few beams of the salvo. He then took the ship into a full barrel roll, and Aayla watched as a beam of turbolaser fire streamed by overhead, just missing the _Will _by a few meters.

Then they passed the bow of the impressive warship. The _Will of Fire's _form hugging so closely to the dorsal armoured hull that none of her anti-fighter or low level armaments could get a lock on her. Aayla and Celeste could only watch as the turrets swivelled, spewing beams of turbolaser and ion fire in their general direction.

The two towers were closing fast. Both women screamed as they closed the gap rapidly, unprepared for when Naruto initiated a ninety-degree spin, putting the _Will_on her side and passing by the gap between the two towers with barely a meter between their hull and the armoured surface of the towers. Aayla felt her heart stop for a second before the ship passed right by the engine nacelles and out into space.

"Firing chaff missiles one and two," Naruto spoke up, flipping a few switches. Aayla and Celeste could only watch the rear-view cameras as the two missiles launched from the rear launchers, burning through space before exploding a few meters away from the closest rear cannon. There was silence for a second before Naruto called over to Celeste, "Do we have a clear path?"

Celeste, thankfully, recovered quickly, "Yes."

"Coordinates locked in?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm punching it," Naruto whooped as he grabbed the hyperdrive throttle and pushed it all the way forward. The stars turned into long lines of pure white light, signifying that the _Will of Fire _had entered the relative safety of hyperspace, leaving their pursuit behind.

Silence prevailed for the longest moment with the only sounds being the hum of the instruments. Finally Celeste spoke, having to force her hands from her instruments and speaking in a shocked murmur, "He can't even land without potentially killing everyone, but he can outmanoeuvre a Star Destroyer?"

"What can I say?" Naruto replied as he leaned back, put his hands behind the back of his head and grinned widely, "I have selective learning."

He heard the unmistakable sounds of harnesses being undone, and looked over in time to see Aayla rise from her chair, towering over him with her arms folded and the most murderous glare he had ever seen on her features. Naruto actually found it rather sexy in a feral sort of way. Her hand moved with quickness, slapping him on the back of the head with enough force for him to feel it.

"Owe!"

"You're an ass!"

Naruto thought about a retort as he reached to rub the back of his head, but decided to just try and calm her down instead, "Alright, I'm an ass."

She sat on his lap, and when he looked up her face was barely a few millimetres away from his own. Their noses were touching as her furious expression gave way to a loving tender look, "But you're my ass."

She darted forward, mouth sealing over his in a chaste kiss before he knew what hit him. It was over in an instant, and Aayla leaned into him, feeling an arm fall onto her outer hip, keeping her in place as Naruto placed a soft kiss against the nape of her neck.

"I'd like to see your ass," Naruto quipped playfully.

"Naruto," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Hush."

* * *

"_I see you all got away safely."_

Aayla smiled at the holographic image of her master. Celeste had opted to remain behind to make any course alterations to the ship if needed, meaning that Aayla could contact her master like she promised. "Yes, there were a few small problems, but we made it away free and clear."

"_I am relieved,"_ Quinlan smiled, _"When we heard there was a Star Destroyer in orbit we began to get worried."_

"No need too," Aayla smiled. "So did you all get away?"

"_Yes, the five of us managed to hitch a ride on a transport bound for Teth, and as far as we know nobody suspected us,"_Vos explained, _"Where are the three of you headed?"_

"Naruto thinks we should stay quiet for a while until the hype dies down, and we agree with him," Aayla explained as she folded her arms, "He wants to travel to Boz Pity, and complete my training in the Shinobi arts."

"_The graveyard Planet,"_Quinlan frowned, hesitating for a moment, _"Yeah, you could vanish there pretty easily. There are no settlements or colonies in that system, and it's been deserted ever since the Confederacy was forced from it last year."_

"It's the perfect place to hide…" Aayla nodded in agreement, "…at least for a while, anyway."

Quinlan nodded before looking back up, _"You three be careful, you hear?"_

"Always master," Aayla nodded, "So what was this important thing you needed to tell me?"

"_It's about a potential gathering,"_Vos replied after a moment of thought, _"In six months time, several Jedi Knights and Masters will be meeting at a location as of yet undisclosed to discuss what our next actions should be, and how we are going to survive. I want you, Naruto and Celeste to be there."_

"We will," Aayla replied with a nod, "When will we know where to go?"

"_You'll be contacted in six months, with a simple single-word message for the system where we will meet,"_Quinlan replied.

"Okay then," Aayla looked at her master for a long moment, "We'll see you in six months. Please, be careful."

"_You as well,"_ Quinlan replied with a soft smile, _"I'll see you in six months."_

The hologram fizzled out, leaving Aayla alone in the lounge of their new ship. She leaned against the table, sighed and cracked her neck before walking back towards the cockpit. Naruto and Celeste were waiting for her, both looking her way when she entered, waiting for her to speak about what Master Vos wanted.

"There's going to be a gathering of Jedi in six months to discuss what to do," Aayla informed as she leaned against the door frame and folded her arms under her bust. "They're taking every precaution with the coordinates, including withholding the location until the time of the conclave."

"A meeting of so many Jedi will be risky," Celeste murmured.

"But it needs to be done," Naruto interjected as he stood up, "The Jedi are scattered and confused. Most of them are dead, and the rest are alone, lost and frightened. The higher echelons of the Order need to get something together if they are to survive the coming few months, let alone the next few years."

There was silence in the room for a moment before Celeste spoke up, "Well its six months away, so we can't worry about that for now. What's our next move?"

"We're going to Boz Pity. I hear it's a quiet little backwater system with no signs of civilization; the perfect place to settle down for a while." Naruto answered. "We'll use the next six months for training. I want to start teaching Aayla the Shinobi arts again and I need to get you completely caught up with her."

"To live six months on a deserted rock we'll need provisions," Aayla spoke up, "I say we take the Ootmian Pabol trade route to Nar Bo Sholla, pick up provisions and supplies then push on to Boz Pity."

"Sounds good," Celeste nodded.

"We have a plan then," Naruto smiled.

"Yes, we have a plan."

"Then let's do it."

* * *

_**Author Note 1: **__I've gained a few reviews from worried readers about Sasuke's strength when he was fighting Vader and his Shadow Guardsmen. I agree with them that I weakened Sasuke for that battle, but look at it this way. He had been on the run for months and because of this he wasn't getting much sleep, scavenging for food wherever he could, haunted by the ghosts of his past which would obviously have an effect on his fighting ability. I simply wrote the battle the way I would see it go down between Vader and a broken version of Sasuke Uchiha. If some readers still find that Vader should have been beaten, then I cannot argue with you, but I can disagree._

_**Author Note 2: **__The poll is next in this author alert. As of the moment this chapter was posted I am closing the Lemon poll, and the results are in. A total of 289 people voted in this poll, so thank you everyone who took part. The result was not an unexpected one, and most of you probably already know the results and who won, but I will put the poll results down here anyway:_

_The question was; In the Good Left Undone, do you want to see Lemons?_

_Yes – 244/84 percent_

_No – 20/6 percent_

_Not Sure – 25/8 percent_

_So the winner of the poll is obviously 'Yes' and keeping to the ideas of most of the reviewers, as well as my own thoughts at the beginning the Lemons will be placed in separate one-shots, located on my fanfiction home page when any such chapters come up. I'll leave messages in the Author Alerts for the chapter when the uncut version would be published._


	23. The Lost Girl

_**Chapter 22**_

_**The Lost Girl**_

Seven months. Seven long, hard, miserable months.

That was how much time had passed since Order 66 had been carried out, marking the end of the Clone Wars…and the beginning of a complete, unconditional purge of the Jedi Order from the face of the galaxy. The Chancellor had declared the Republic an Empire, with himself as its first Emperor…to the thunderous applause of the Galactic Senate. No one had questioned his declaration. No one had asked why. No one had asked for a trial against the Jedi for their actions so that justice could speak for itself.

Nobody cared that those "Jedi" that were killed in the Enclave were mostly children and teenagers, not even Jedi yet. During the course of the Clone Wars, most of the Jedi Knights had been casualties of war, with only a few hundred over the age of twenty still alive at the time Order 66 was executed. If one took a closer look at the casualty listings of the Clone Wars, nobody had suffered more than the Jedi Order: tens of thousands dead in a war which lasted three years.

Nobody cared; they were just happy that the war was over. Like a herd of nerfs or banthas, the docile masses blindly accepted the dogma that the new Empire was spewing: that this war, engineered by the Sith, was entirely the fault of the Jedi Order. They blindly accepted this false truth, and ignored the images of the dead and dying lying in the corridors of the temple. They ignored the bonfire of dead Jedi, corpses thrown into the flames as the interior of their temple was completely decimated, ransacked and burned.

"Serves them right," a young girl had overheard some people scoffing, finding herself both shocked and dumbfounded by what these people said about her and her own ilk.

At first such words had shocked her. Then they angered her. Then…they enraged her. The Jedi had fought for the Republic for thousands of years. They had defended her from thousands of threats both within and without, and now, after so many millennia of faithful service they were simply thrown to the side, drowning in their own blood and forgotten? So many friends' lives wasted over a cause that nobody else seemed to take seriously?

These hopeless questions only served to enrage her further. So many friends had died on the fields of battle, fighting for the Republic and all that she stood for. They had died in pools of their own blood; they had been shot, stabbed, blown up, their corpses desecrated and their memories forgotten by everyone except for the Jedi…and now even the meagre monuments erected for their dead had been pulled down.

There was nothing. They had destroyed every trace of the Jedi Order she knew and loved…they regarded the Jedi Order as an epidemic that had to be sterilized and burned away.

"Ahsoka," called the young woman's travelling companion.

Hearing her name brought her from her dark thoughts, and with a shaky breathe, Ahsoka Tano looked over to the stream of light coming from the opened door, "Yes."

Her voice didn't sound nearly as strong as she wanted it to be; it actually sounded shaky and gravelly. She hated the sound. She wanted to get stronger, to withstand and conquer the darkness in her heart and soul, but it was hard. Every time she tried to meditate all she felt was betrayal, anger, and above all else…hate. She felt the things that pulled one towards the dark side.

She hated it.

"We may need to move soon," the man stated in a gravelly voice, head tilting to the side as he studied her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Rex," Ahsoka replied as she took a long, shaky breathe, "I'll be out in a minute."

Rex nodded, but hesitated for a long moment, as if thinking about whether he should leave or stay, before backing out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ahsoka looked at the closed door, taking several calming breathes before she attempted to continue with her meditation, to try and purge all of these dark thoughts from her mind, but it was a losing battle.

At this moment, there was only one person stopping her from going crazy. She sometimes wanted to laugh bitterly that her saviour had been one of the Clones so determined to destroy them. Rex was a Captain of the 501st Legion. The two of them had worked together on so many missions that he was more than a simple soldier to her. They had actually become friends, and that friendship was what saved her when Order 66 was given.

Rex had defied orders; instead of turning his blaster on her, he had turned it on the unit of clones aiming their guns at her. Together they had decimated the unit so intent on killing her, and were able to escape from the planet. She later learned that she had been charged with desertion from the armed forces and being a double agent for the separatists, feeding them important strategic information.

She had been lucky. Cody had been Obi-wan's friend, and he gunned the Jedi Master down. Bly had been Aayla's friend, and he gunned her down. Barriss and Luminara had saved countless clones from death, and those very same clones thanked them by gunning them down. Yes, she had been very, very lucky.

The clone she considered a friend had been Rex. That had been the only difference, and Rex's decision had been a costly one. He was as much a traitor to the new Empire as she was, and the fact that he was a member of the infamous 501st Legion, the chosen Legion of Darth Vader, made his betrayal all the more unforgivable. His former comrades would hunt him to the ends of the galaxy to rectify such a smear on their Legion's reputation.

She owed him her life. For this reason alone, she would keep herself together. She would not become a burden. It was for her sake, as well as his. The two of them would stick together and they would do what so many of her brothers and sisters could not: they would survive.

Ahsoka took one last deep breathe, stood up and walked to the other side of the room, opening the door and walking through it to the main room. The place they were held up in was based in a slum of the capital city, the apartment they had rented was dirty and infested with vermin, but in these slums it was easier to disappear from Imperial troops.

Rex stood in the centre of the living room, checking the cartridges of his blaster pistols before putting them into their holsters. His charred and cracked officer's armour was covered by a dirty brown cloak. His helmet had been lost months ago, and he looked worn and tired but willing to continue until safety was found.

"Your orders, Commander?" he asked simply.

She flinched at the word, "I'm not a Commander anymore, Rex…and I'm in no position to order you around."

"With all due respect, ma'am…" the former Captain replied with a smirk, "…as far as I am concerned you are still my Commander."

"Thank you, Rex," Ahsoka thanked him with a smile, meaning every word. "You've lost so much in protecting me."

"Not all clones are mindless killers, ma'am," Rex replied, "but if I had to choose between the Commanders I've fought with and those who have never tasted a fight, then I would choose the former any day. I know you, ma'am, and I know the Jedi I've served with. They are not capable of what they've been accused of, and I will believe that until my dying breathe."

It felt so refreshing, to talk to somebody about her dead friends and not hear them being mentioned as monsters and traitors. Rex was the only thing keeping her from falling over the raggedy edge, "Thank you Rex. Let's go."

"Yes ma'am."

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Ahsoka, Rex?" she asked.

"At least once more, ma'am…as always," Rex replied with an amused smirk.

Ahsoka laughed; a hollow sound that Rex didn't like. Her eyes, once full of mischief and youthful life, now looked so dead that it was terrifying. She was only sixteen, and she had those dead, lifeless eyes. Rex didn't like it; not one bit. He prayed to whoever was listening for someone to come…anyone to come…and put some life back into those once vibrant blue orbs.

* * *

"Thank the Sage."

Celeste looked over at her friend with a bemused look and a sigh, "Naruto, seriously, we're on solid ground again so stop complaining."

"I hate long space flights," the blond whimpered as he fell on his hands and knees and kissed the sun baked concrete ground, "I truly hate them. Being cooped up in such a small space is against my nature."

"We were only travelling for two days," Celeste replied, folding her arms and shaking her head. "Force preserve me when we have to travel for a month. I'll probably be nurturing very un-Jedi like thoughts of physically harming you."

Naruto gave her a slightly befuddled look before breaking out into a smile, "For a second there I thought you were going to say 'killing you'."

"That's next on my list," Celeste murmured as she walked down the landing ramp, Naruto in tow.

"Why isn't Aayla coming with us, again?"

"Divide and conquer, my friend," Celeste replied as she walked, "Aayla will be taking care of this bird. You and I will be stocking up on enough provisions for six months... though with you in mind we may need to stock up for twelve."

"Thanks for that," Naruto replied, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"It's not my fault your stomach is bottomless," Celeste countered.

"Touché," Naruto conceded with a sigh.

"And we're going to have to get restocked on clothes and other necessities," Celeste added as she took out a long list that both she and Aayla had devised during their two days on the _Will of Fire_, "Let's see…clothes, camping gear, food, water... did I mention clothes?"

Naruto made an exasperated noise, "I know where this is going."

"Hey! I've got two sets of clothes to my name! One is the battered suit of armour that I slept in for four…thousand…years…" she made it a point to pause between each of the last three words, jabbing her finger into Naruto's chest with each pause, "…and the other is what I have on me," Celeste finished, drawing Naruto's attention away from her prodding finger and to her cream-coloured tunic, pants and black leather ankle boots Crys had given her, "You may be more than happy in wearing one change of clothes for your entire life…but Aayla and I actually need a wardrobe's worth of clothing…and now that I think about it, so do you."

Naruto sighed, "This is going to take a while."

"Damn right fly-boy and I need your measurements," Celeste chimed.

"This is also going to be expensive," Naruto added, remembering a similar situation with Sakura and Ino in tow. He lost a lot of money that day.

"We have ten thousand credits in the bank," Celeste countered wryly.

"Thank you, Sage, for bestowing upon us the blessed secret of storage seals," Naruto murmured, but knew that his friend heard him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Believe me, what I'm about to show you might be the coolest thing since sliced bread," Naruto replied, rubbing his face with his free hand as the two of them walked out of the landing area where the _Will of Fire _was docked and into the offices beyond. He leaned over, and whispered their basic ability into his friend's ear, and with each word he said the more Celeste's face lit up.

"You're right; that does sound like the coolest thing since sliced bread!" she exclaimed happily as they walked before looking up at him again with a pout, "When are you going to teach me on how to use them? No, scratch that, when are you going to teach me how to make them?"

Naruto sighed. He had always had an idea that the storage seal was created by a member of the fairer sex. He just knew it in his very bones.

"When we reach Boz Pity and I show you all of the basics, then I will introduce you to the art of Fūinjutsu," he answered in a rather pathetic and defeated tone of voice.

"Now that I can't wait for," she said with a wide smile, not caring at how pitiful he sounded.

"Women," the blond muttered under his breath, "I know I'll regret teaching her this, I just know it."

* * *

Aayla descended the ramp way, stepping into the glow and looking up at the midday sun, slender hand rising to shade her eyes from the harsh light. The young woman admired the patch of cloudless blue sky for a moment before stretching, getting the kinks out of her muscles as she looked around. Naruto and Celeste should have taken care of paying the docking fees, so all she needed to do was guard the ship.

The young woman wouldn't mind a few hours of relaxation while Celeste dragged Naruto around, maybe she could take out a deckchair and laze around in the shade, or she could jump onto the dorsal section of the ship, find a nice smooth flat surface and sleep under the soft warmth of the autumn sun.

Having made her decision, the young Twi'lek looked around cautiously. Once she was sure no one was in the landing bay to see her, with a flexing of her legs, she jumped high with the aid of the force, making it several meters up and landing gracefully of the armoured hull of their ship with ease. She walked along the circumference of the dorsal section, found a nice, smooth spot and lay down on it, putting her hands behind her head and crossing her legs as she got comfortable, smiling as she allowed the sun's light to caress her cerulean skin.

Space was a cold, harsh place with no heat; even in a starship one could easily miss the natural light of the sun or the gentle embrace of the wind. Aayla really enjoyed these simple pleasures that nature offered on most habitable planets. She often missed them when she was on long spaceflights, and during the war, she never had the time to enjoy or miss them, as she was always busy running…fighting…surviving.

The young Twi'lek did not smile, but she felt that her memories of that time didn't hurt nearly as much as they used to. She had come to terms with the loss of her friends and knew that they weren't really gone. They would live on in her memories, and she knew that somehow, someday, she would see them again. Naruto had taught her that.

She wasn't sure when she nodded off, but her next memory was awakening to the magnetic hum of a blaster. Her eyes snapped open to look down the barrel of a military-grade, long-barrelled blaster pistol aimed right for her face. She looked up further, her blood running cold when she noticed the white armour of a clone trooper. Granted, this particular suit had seen better days, as it was chipped and cracked in places, and it was missing its helm, but she knew that armour anywhere. The face that was exposed, the very same face shared by millions of Clone troopers, only added to her trepidation.

'I'm getting careless,' Aayla realised as she silently cursed to herself. To have a clone sneak up on her and aim his weapon before she noticed? She had to be losing her touch; she knew Naruto would never have let this happen to him. She took a little comfort in the fact that his suit was adorned with the blue stripes of a clone captain, meaning that he likely had greater restraint than the average clone trooper, and wouldn't kill a person needlessly, or just to sate bloodlust like so many rank-and-file clone privates…who were really little more than killing machines with just enough of a mind to obey orders and adapt to battlefield situations.

He spoke, "I apologise, ma'am, but we're hijacking your ship."

Aayla blinked in confusion, realising a moment later that he didn't seem to recognise her. She had no confusion in that if he did know who she was she would probably already be lying dead on the dorsal section of the _Will of Fire_.

A female voice filtered to Aayla's cone-shaped ears, familiar, but she couldn't place it, "Rex, did you find anyone up there?"

"A member of the crew, I believe," The clone named Rex replied, his eyes not leaving his captive.

Aayla had risen, propping herself up on her elbows but not making any sudden movements. Carefully, painfully slowly she reached for the small of her back, middle and index fingers clamping around a kunai hidden in her belt. She gave no outward sign of the weapon she was preparing, waiting for her assailant to focus his attention elsewhere.

She only needed a moment.

He wasn't an officer for nothing, though. She was surprised when his gun moved a few inches closer, not far away from the tip of her nose. "The weapon on your back: take it and toss it aside…slow and easy."

Aayla frowned, but with a motion from her assailant's blaster pistol she slowly withdrew the kunai, held it up in plain sight, then tossed it to the side, listening to the clank as it hit the armoured hull and skidded across the surface to a stop.

Rex watched her for a moment before reaching down, grabbing her roughly by her bare arm before hauling her to her feet and forcing her to walk. Aayla made it two steps before she moved, spinning around with blurring speed with a waist high kick, forcing the blaster from the Clones grasp and sending it flying through the air. She spun on her pivot foot in a full circle, striking the newly identified "Rex" in the gut with a reverse roundhouse kick.

The clone staggered under the strike, but held firm and grabbed hold of her extended ankle, giving it a sharp twist. Aayla went with the flow, spinning her body with the twist, bringing her other foot up for a kick to the face. The clone ducked and the Twi'lek woman spun in midair before landing on her feet, bringing her hands together for a seal.

There was a snap and an emerald blade of light exploded through her chest, Aayla's eyes widened as she slowly turned to see the face of her killer. The woman was young, and a Togruta, but she was also hooded and cloaked, the shadows obscuring her facial features. The woman looked right at her and flinched suddenly, speaking in a shocked and horrified tone.

"Aayla?"

She vanished in a puff of white smoke, temporarily blinding her two assailants. When the smoke cleared, all that was left in her place was a steel crate. The clone and force-sensitive looked at the crate with wide-eyed shock. It was then that Aayla pounced, landing behind Rex and taking his feet out from under him with a leg sweep followed by a kunai pressed lightly against his exposed throat.

Aayla looked over at her other assailant with narrow, dangerous eyes, seeing that she seemed to be halfway reaching for a weapon hidden in her cloak. "Take it out and throw it to the side, the lightsaber too…slowly."

She did so, reaching into her cloak and drawing a blaster, gently throwing both weapons to the floor. Aayla did not lessen her grip on the kunai, and she didn't allow her orbs to leave that of the female of the two.

"Pull back your hood," Aayla ordered quickly and abruptly.

The woman hesitated before reaching up with two slender, orange hands, and gripping onto her hood pulled it down, revealing a striking young Togruta female, orange skin with white markings, deep blue eyes, short tentacles and hollow horns known as mantrals, showing that this Togruta was an adolescent, a teenager. It took Aayla a moment to recognise her. She was older than the last time she remembered, a few years back, but once Aayla recognised her, the Twi'lek's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ahsoka?"

* * *

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Do you want me to threaten you?"

"Celeste, how can you threaten me?"

"With my lightsaber," the former Shadow retorted as she folded her arms under her bust and gave him a sly look.

Naruto sighed. Ever since she had seen him use a handful of storage scrolls to store the huge mountain of supplies they had gathered, she had gotten a bit of a worrying glint in her eye. A powerful and deadly Jedi Shadow she may have once been, but deep down she was still a woman, and he didn't care who argued with him to the contrary, women went completely nuts when it came to shopping.

He had used a total of five storage scrolls to take care of their supplies. One of the scrolls was used for all of the food, another for the drink and water, and another for the tents and camping equipment. The other two were used for a single purpose, clothes, one carried the small armoury of clothes Celeste had bought for herself while the other carried an equally hefty mass of clothes she had bought for Aayla, some under his girlfriend's recommendation: tight leather and so on, but others of Celeste's own sense of style, to which Naruto had to concede one point.

The point was that Celeste Morne's style was pretty bad-ass.

"My sword counters your lightsaber," Naruto countered, leaning down so that he was eye level with his friend, "Seriously, Celeste, you've only started training in the Shinobi arts. I've just finished teaching you the absolute basics. You can't even walk up a wall yet without falling. You're not ready to learn Fūinjutsu."

Celeste huffed lightly, but Naruto smirked when he saw that she had seen his point, "You're stingy, you know that?"

"I do try," the blond countered with a playful smirk.

There was silence for a moment before Celeste spoke up again, except this time it wasn't in a pleading tone for him to teach her Fūinjutsu, or her playful tone when the two of them teased each other. It was nervous and serious, serious because she wanted to know, nervous because she wasn't a hundred percent sure on how he would take her question, "You still owe me an explanation."

"About?" Naruto replied with a raised brow, a little concerned about the suddenness of the conversation change. He knew full well what Celeste was talking about; in fact, he had been waiting for her to ask him this question ever since that moment in the hangar on Nar Shaddaa a few days ago.

"When we were in the hanger, you changed, not just your appearance but also your presence in the Force," Celeste explained as she looked over at him, nervousness replaced by her more inquisitive nature. "It felt like a maelstrom of power and emotion, positive emotion. I admit I have worked with many Jedi over the years that were powerful in the Force, but at that moment, when you activated your…Sage Mode, was it? I felt something of extreme power."

"It's an old art…" Naruto began with an exhale of breathe, "…and not one passed down to just anyone."

He hesitated for a moment, looking up to the sky as they walked down the half-crowded streets towards their starship, almost as if he were holding a conversation within himself as to whether he should continue or not. This was one of the most powerful techniques in his frighteningly versatile arsenal of combat skills. For a moment, Celeste thought he had dropped it, but he spoke up before she could say anything, a melancholy smile adorning his features.

"On my home planet, humans weren't the only intelligent life," he began, eyes taking on a wistful look, as if he were remembering a distant past, "There were many other intelligent sentient beings on my planet. There were so many other races including sentient snakes, slugs, clams, monkeys, dogs, sharks, foxes, wolves, bears, hawks, eagles, dragons and demons even... this technique you saw, I learned from an ancient race known as the Toad Sages of Mount Myōboku. I had been under a battle contract with them, and over time they invited me to their home and taught me this technique. The training was long and dangerous; most don't survive it, but I was one of only a handful who did."

Celeste was intrigued by what Naruto was telling her, "What does it do, this Sage Mode?"

"It provides an explosive increase in all my senses," Naruto explained, "My sight, hearing, sense of smell, touch and taste; they all increase tenfold. I become much faster, much, much stronger, and my stamina goes through the roof. My control rises to the point where I can do even the most difficult techniques I know with the ease that's usually attained from at least a decade's worth of constant training and practise. In Jedi terms, it is the ultimate battle-meditation, but there are drawbacks."

"Drawbacks?" Celeste asked with a frown.

"Well... it's a real drain on my chakra reserves. I can only go for a certain amount of time before I am completely drained," Naruto replied, careful not to tell her that after that limit was reached he would be forced to use the chakra of his prisoner, "It is a powerful mode to be in, but if you don't finish off your opponents before it fades then it is very likely they will finish you, if the drain doesn't finish you first."

Neither Aayla nor Celeste knew about what he carried yet, and he would keep it that way for the moment. If his relationship with Aayla became any more serious then he would tell her, give her a chance to bug out. In his mind he knew she wasn't that type of girl, but his own mind, his fear of losing her was keeping him from telling her. In all honesty, he knew he should have told her on Felucia, but he didn't.

'Why didn't I?' he wondered.

_'__That's easy. It's because you didn't want to let her go, brother.'_

Naruto made no outward signs that his dark half had invaded his mind, no sign whatsoever. He didn't even speak to his dark apparition at first. He simply listened as he began to speak in earnest. He shouldn't be surprised, his dark half had been quiet for far too long.

'I _must admit she is quite a special girl…so is the one walking beside you, in fact,'_he could swear he could see his dark half smirking in the back of his mind, _'Reminds me a little of that Hyuga girl you fell in love with. What was her name... ah yes, Hinata.'_

'You fell for her as well, if I remember correctly,' Naruto replied.

_'__I suppose you're right. You are me and I am you after all.'_

'Want to tell me how to get rid of you again?'

_'__Think like me; it'll come to you.'_

He didn't answer as he felt his dark half retreat back into the recesses of his mind. Naruto was silent for a moment, contemplating what he had just gone through, before a small smile crossed his lips. He raised his head, looked to the sky and smiled, "I see. I'm already on the right path."

Celeste looked over at him inquisitively, hearing him murmur something but not with enough volume to tell what, "Did you say something?"

Naruto looked to his friend for a moment before shaking his head, "Nope…not a thing."

She gave him a strange look before bringing her attention to the path ahead. They had already entered the spaceport, and were making their way through the spacious and half-busy main lobby towards the docking area where the _Will of Fire _was being held. Naruto looked left and right, knowing that Celeste was doing the same, on the alert for any mercs hired by the Hutts or any other party interested in handing in Jedi to the Empire for credit.

Celeste paid the toll with no difficulty, and they were given the all-clear barely a few minutes after they inserted their application to leave the spaceport. The datapad Celeste handed in was downloaded with the day's space travel information, including how many ships were entering and leaving the system within the last hour as well as the proper AEC and time to enter. It all went smoothly and without incident.

Even that little danger sense Jedi were known to have wasn't making itself known at the moment. It appeared that they were going to be able to leave this hyperspace crossroads point without any difficulty or trouble. No Imperial troops, no Inquisition, no bounty hunters or mercenaries chasing them.

Naruto, however, couldn't help but be suspicious. It all seemed too perfect.

* * *

_**Author Note 1: **__Naruto and Star Wars are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto and George Lucas respectively, I make no profit from publishing this story. _

_**Author Note 2: **__It's a day late and I apologise, but my job is now seriously eating away at my free time, and my beta-reader has the same constraints. We will try to keep up with the updates, but no promises on our part. I mean I was supposed to finish at 10pm and I got a call at 9:55pm from some guy who wanted to ask about his sky bill, then after 20 mins of explaining this to him he throws a curveball at me in how to fix his sky record button. I didn't get out until 10:25pm__**, **__and I wasn't getting paid for it!_

'_**Spoiler alert for Naruto manga beyond this point. Do not read if do not know!'**_

_**Author Note 3: **__On a different note what about the new chapter of Naruto huh? The whole thing appears to be coming to a climax. My hope is that Kakashi or someone else engages Kabuto and breaks his concentration. The undead Shinobi they conscripted will awaken, some might stay on Akatsuki's side but others would defect. It would definitely make the battle between Madara, Naruto and Killer Bee more interesting, half of the Jinchūriki like Roshi and Yugito would probably change sides, but the rest might stick with Madara because of their hatred of humanity and so on. I'm hoping that happens anyway, mainly because I have a soft spot for Yugito and Roshi. Come on Kishimoto, you've disappointed me a few times already get this one right!_


	24. Arrival at Boz Pity

_**Chapter 23**_

_**Arrival at Boz Pity**_

"Okay, so once again," Naruto frowned as he sat, slouched and tired, looking back and forth between the woman he loved and the two newcomers that were currently tied to the exposed piping with stun-cuffs, "how in the name of all that is holy in this world and the next did all of this happen?"

Celeste, mirroring his slouched and tired expression, was seated at the other end of the round dining table, looking at their two guests as she leaned her face against the smooth surface. "Can't we make it out of one system without one of us getting into some kind of trouble?"

"Apparently not," Naruto replied deadpan as he stretched before jumping back to his feet. He walked over to Aayla's side and joined her in towering over the two wannabe ship thieves. The addition of his impressive height, coupled with his threatening glare, made the female of the duo look just that tad little more nervous. If her companion was feeling any fear at all, he was hiding it very well.

"So…" Naruto began a little too casually, the smile of his face and the gleam in his eye making their female prisoner sweat noticeably, "…what's this I hear about you two trying to use one of my precious crew here as a skewer?"

"It was an accident, honest!" the female retorted quickly and pleadingly. How this tall blond could glare so forcefully while smiling so casually was a mystery to the girl, but when he focused his…expression…on her, she flinched and looked away, "I didn't know it was Master Secura!"

"So that makes it alright to kill almost anyone just to steal their ship?" Celeste queried from her place, still sitting on the round sofa. The three of them had fallen into a sort of makeshift interrogation team, but Naruto had to admit that when it came to drilling teenagers for information, they were quite effective.

"You know her, I'm guessing?" Naruto asked his mate, to which Aayla nodded in response.

"Her name's Ahsoka Tano," Aayla introduced, folding her arms and giving the young woman a fairly intimidating stare. It wasn't a stare of anger or hatred, it was a stare of complete and utter disappointment and to someone her age that stare probably hurt more than a blaster bolt, "She's a Jedi Padawan, and she was once under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker."

"Don't speak that name in front of me!" Ahsoka growled lowly, young face slowly morphing into a contorted mask of furious anger, "I never want to hear that name again for as long as I live!"

The two of them looked over at her for a moment, Aayla frowning worriedly at the pure rage she saw in her young friend's face, and Naruto giving her a look which would melt steel. He had still not quite forgiven her for trying to use his beloved as a pin cushion, even though he now knew that it wasn't done on purpose. Eventually, the girl's rage subsided, and with a little shame she looked away from them.

Naruto looked at her for a moment before turning to the second member, angry glare and eerie smile replaced with the firm grimace of a professional soldier, "And you are?"

The clone looked up at Naruto, dark eyes calculating for a moment before softening, "My name is Rex, designation number CT-7567, former Captain of the Republic Army."

"Rex," Aayla murmured quietly, as if trying to remember the name, "Commander of Torrent Company of the 501st Legion."

The former Captain acknowledged her words with a nod of his head, "The one and the same, ma'am."

Naruto noticed it, though his mate made a good attempt to hide it. Aayla seemed tense and unusually sombre ever since they returned to the _Will of Fire_. He had been wondering why her mentality seemed to change so quickly; now he could make an educated guess. It wasn't the fact that Ahsoka had almost killed her that struck her. It was the fact that they were so close to a clone of a high rank and she wasn't holding her lightsaber. Order 66 had completely destroyed any trust she had ever had in any clone.

She was very good at hiding it, but he saw trepidation and fear in her eyes, no matter how subtle. Naruto stepped over to her and placing a hand on her bare arm gave it a comforting squeeze, making her look over to him in time to see a comforting smile. He then looked over at Celeste, who seemed to be seeing her friend's trepidation at the scene just a few seconds later than he himself had.

"Celeste, Aayla, could you two see about getting us airborne and off this rock?" Naruto asked with a disarming smile.

Aayla hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. The young Twi'lek gave Ahsoka one last worried look before turning around and walking towards the corridor leading to the ship's cockpit, Celeste just a few steps behind. The black haired Jedi Shadow shared a look with the Shinobi for a long moment before nodding her head in understanding and following her friend to the cockpit.

Naruto waited for the familiar and now comforting hum of the ship's engines as they came online, of the low level vibrations which overtook the ship before the shock absorbers kicked in and did their job. He waited until he felt the tiniest lurch as the ships main atmospheric thrusters activated and slowly raised the form of the _Will of Fire_into the air. As they were now safely in the air, with Aayla and Celeste too occupied with flying the ship to be able to pay attention to what was happening in the central chamber, he turned his attention to their two guests.

"Who are you?" Ahsoka asked at last.

"Who I am is not important at the moment," Naruto replied before chancing a glance at the clone commander and offering a disarming smile. "Don't take her reaction too personally; she just had a really bad run in with those clones she considered friends."

Rex nodded his head, "I understand."

"What happened to her?" Ahsoka asked.

"The commander she had fought with betrayed her, would have killed her if I hadn't been there to intervene," Naruto replied sombrely, "I don't have the right to tell you the full story; only Aayla has that right. But…" he paused for a moment to ensure he had their full attention, "…just know that the experience left a pretty bad mark on her. Couple that with the death and destruction she felt in the force…and, well, you get the idea."

Ahsoka nodded, looking downward sadly towards the steel mesh decking.

"You have a lot of anger in you," Naruto stated, before forcing himself not to grimace at the words. He was definitely spending too much time around Jedi. He was even starting to sound like one when he attempted to press an issue, "It doesn't take a Jedi to see that."

She didn't look at all surprised by his statement, but she did look weary. Naruto paid attention to the movements of the two as he sat cross-legged on the decking of the ship, expressive cerulean eyes looking at them with equal soft intensity.

"You have been with Aayla for a while," she said at last. It wasn't a question, Naruto saw that right away.

"Yes, since just before Order 66," Naruto replied.

"Then you should know what I feel right now," Ahsoka replied, gritting her teeth in a vain attempt to hide her anger.

Naruto sighed heavily. It seemed that people took terrible events in their own stride, and each showed their grief and stress in different ways. With his own mate, his beloved, the after effects of Order 66 showed in her as grief, very real, near consuming grief. With Celeste it had shown as something a little more extreme, the knowledge of the Jedi's demise coupled with the end of her own ordeal led to the Jedi Shadow suffering from a near mental breakdown.

With Ahsoka, it was something different yet again. It wasn't grief or stress or even a mixture of both. Her response to what she saw when Order 66 was executed, as well as the acts of the Empire beyond that event, were countered by another, far more negative emotion. The emotion she had chosen to lean on was anger, and if Naruto remembered correctly, such an emotion, if held on to and allowed to simmer, was potentially fatal to a Jedi.

"I do," Naruto replied after a moment, trying to think of his words before he spoke them. He failed miserably at this; this was Naruto Uzumaki after all, "But at the same time, I don't."

That got her attention, "What?"

"I understand exactly what you are going through," Naruto began again, "I am considered to be the last of my kind, an order of hundreds of thousands of soldiers wiped out by a stupid war of their own making. In your case it seemed that you had all been deceived however, forced into a war which had the sole purpose of wiping you and the order you were a part of out."

Ahsoka did not reply. She simply listened to this strange blond human as he spoke.

"I am not a Jedi," Naruto went on, "I may have an ability to sense this force you all speak so highly of, but after all that I have seen, I'm not sure that I want to. I cannot see the future, but I can see the past. All I know about Order 66 is that some madman with a thirst for power put himself into a position to attain it, a master puppeteer. He pulled the strings, and then he cut them. A lot of good people died because of it, and they had been engineered into a position where they would be seen as the antagonists and not the victims they were."

He could see it in her expression, one of pain and anger, and it threatened to lead her on a very dangerous path. He was not a Jedi, but he had seen those simmering, cold, near-deadened orbs before. They reminded him a little of Sasuke's eyes, soon after his family had been killed off by his older brother. They had the potential to become those eyes Naruto remembered during their early Genin days so long ago.

The galaxy had seen enough destruction. They did not need to see a reincarnation of the ultimate avenger running amok.

Naruto sighed again, before pulling out a kunai and coating it with wind chakra. He approached the two with quick, sudden strides, ignoring their perturbed and fearful expressions as he leaned down. He cut Ahsoka's bindings first, then Rex's, and rising to his feet he sheathed his kunai and took a few steps back.

Ahsoka and Rex slowly, steadily, rose to their feet, their eyes not leaving those of Naruto, as if they were daring him to make a move to counter the one he had already made. The Shinobi shrugged and turned around, showing his back to them as he made his way towards the cockpit.

"There are two spare bunks on the second door to your left. You're free to use them, but…" he stopped and turned to them, his cerulean orbs simmering with the cold fire of a man who knows how and when to kill, "…don't take my mercy as a sign of weakness. If either of you attempts anything treacherous or dangerous to us, then the airlock is where you will go."

Having delivered his warning and trusting that they got the message, he left and entered the cockpit.

"You let them go?" asked Aayla knowingly.

Naruto nodded his head as he stood behind the pilot's chair, resting his hands on Aayla's shoulders as she flew the ship, using the chosen atmospheric route for a couple more moments before breaking free from the route once they entered deep space. Celeste had already finished inputting the navigational coordinates.

"I did," Naruto affirmed, looking down at the top of her head, watching as she was completely focused on piloting the ship. He offered a small smile, "Should I not have?"

His mate seemed to think for a moment, hand slowly moving to the hyperdrive throttle on her right, "No, it was the right thing to do, and I don't think they're going to try anything."

"You know Ahsoka well, I take it?" Naruto smiled a little wider.

Aayla pushed the hyperdrive throttle forward, stars elongated into long white lines as the _Will of Fire_jumped into hyperspace, leaving the crossroads outpost of Nar Bo Sholla behind them, "We're friends, though I haven't seen her in almost a year and a half."

"And Rex?"

He saw her flinch, just ever so slightly, but he still saw it, "I met him a few times, though it was only in war briefings and the like. He was very outspoken, not afraid of letting his worries be heard and never pulled any punches when he heard a plan with holes in it."

"Sounds like a good commander who actually gave a damn about his troops," Naruto thought out loud.

Aayla looked up at him for a moment as she activated the autopilot and undid her crash webbing, thoughtful for a moment before sighing and nodding her head, "Yes, I suppose he was one of those who did. He was very…unclone-like that way…" she finished almost wistfully.

She was about to stand, but Naruto softly pushed her back against the chair, wrapping his arms around her slender frame and pressing a soft kiss against her forehead. Aayla leaned into the chair, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling as she raised her right hand to touch his arm, "You know I'll protect you from any danger, right?"

"Yes," she replied in an exhale of breathe.

"Good, so don't you worry about Rex, alright?"

She looked up at him, slightly surprised that he had seen through her to easily.

"Am I that transparent?" she asked with a weak smile.

"Not really," Naruto replied with a toothy grin. "It's just that I know you so well that I can see when you're upset or worried about something, even when you're trying to hide it."

"He's right," Celeste piped up as she finished the last few calculations to their next set of coordinates, rising from her chair and looking over at the two. "I didn't notice it until Naruto motioned me to take a closer look."

"Oh," Aayla uttered in reply, lekku curling ever so slightly in embarrassment for making her two best friends worry, "Sorry to worry you."

"Don't worry about it," Celeste replied with a smile. "That's what friends are for, remember?"

Aayla nodded, and Naruto laughed lightly. She shot him a slightly perturbed look, which was removed when he stole a chaste kiss from her lips. Aayla mock-glared up at him, wishing that there would come a time when she would get used to his seemingly-random displays of affection.

"Anyway," Celeste piped up at last, shaking her head at the couple's uncaring nature for expressing their feelings in public. The Jedi Shadow was always a more private person herself, "I'm going to make sure our guests aren't up to something. Then I'm going to take a look at the engines to make sure all of the fine-tuning and upgrading is holding together."

Naruto nodded, which was returned by Celeste before she walked out of the cockpit towards the main chamber of their small ship. The blond shook his head before turning back to Aayla, who was still seated and still looking up at him, "Sorry for being a bother."

"You're not a bother, and you never will be," Naruto replied with a sigh as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, "I can tell that Rex being in such close proximity is worrying for you, but I doubt he'll try anything. He's been protecting Ahsoka during the war, and he's continued to protect her when he was supposed to kill her."

"I know," she replied as she leaned her forehead against his chin, "I know, but the feeling isn't something that will just go away overnight."

"I never expected it to," Naruto replied, "But it's not like you're on your own, right?"

She smiled, "Right."

Naruto sat on the arm of the pilot's chair, putting an arm around his beloved and planting a kiss on her forehead. Aayla leaned into him, head pressed against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, "I'll protect you."

She looked up to give him a mock-annoyed pout, "It sounds like you think I need protecting."

Naruto laughed, "I'm here to protect you when you need it, and it's the same in reverse."

Aayla smiled as she leaned up to kiss his lower jaw, "Right."

Naruto smirked. "So what do you want to do with them?"

"Keep them around," Aayla replied after a moment's thought, "I suppose I could learn to live with Rex after a while, and I think parting ways is the worst thing we can do for Ahsoka at the moment."

"I agree."

"You saw that look in her eyes too?"

He nodded.

"She needs help, Naruto."

"I know," he agreed before looking down at her with a smile, "And we're going to help her, because right now, we're the only ones who can."

* * *

"It could be worse," Rex commented.

Ahsoka gave Rex a withering look for a moment, a look which Rex didn't even seem to shrug off, "How could this possibly be any worse?"

The war veteran looked around their small quarters: a simple, Spartan room with two bunks on either side, a night table in the centre, and a built-in wardrobe at the foot of the bed that Ahsoka was sitting on. It was a small room, but the beds looked to be of decent quality, and there was enough storage space for two people.

"We could still be in chains," he answered in reply.

"That's not what I mean, Rex," Ahsoka shook her head and covered it with her hands, "After so long thinking I was the last one left alive, I find someone, a fellow sister of the Jedi, and I almost kill her."

"Ahsoka," Rex sighed, hand reaching up to massage the slightly healing wound around his throat. General Secura had put a little too much pressure on the blade, and it did draw a little blood, "While I admit you were a little heavy-handed, it came to nothing; General Secura wasn't even scratched."

"That doesn't mean that I didn't raise my blade to strike her down," Ahsoka replied as she fell back onto the small bed, form curling up into a loose ball as she closed her eyes, "What did I almost do?"

Rex looked at her, worry in his eyes as he studied her form. She was once so sure of herself, so full of energy, confidence and ideas, so full of life and idealism. Ahsoka was now a shell of her former self, and it hurt to see such a young child, a teenager, go through what she was going through. It hurt even more with the realisation that he didn't know what to do about it.

"What am I becoming?" her voice sounded so small, so scared and alone, and was just beginning to break, "I almost killed one of my friends. I should have known it was her, but at the time I just didn't care."

His hands turned into fists, fabric of his gauntlets quietly creaking as he gripped them hard.

"Force me," she uttered quietly, "What if she hates me for this? I could see it in her eyes when she locked us up in those stun-cuffs; she hates me."

He heard a sob, a quiet, broken sob and looked up. She had rolled onto her side, facing the wall. Her face was turned away from him, but he knew she was crying. The girl was so stubborn, didn't want to show weakness in front of anyone. She didn't want to worry anyone when it came to herself. Rex wanted to help her, but she wouldn't let him. She just placed this brave smile on her face and pretended like it didn't affect her, even though the Captain saw her anger simmering in her expressive blue eyes.

A slender hand flew forward with speed, clamping softly around his mouth to stop him from saying anything. He looked down in time to see General Secura looking up at him with a hard expression before she silently shook her head, looked back at him and mouthed a silent word: sorry.

His response was a simple light bow of his head, a show of respect to the General. The hand was removed from his mouth, and he looked down at her in time to see her place a finger in front of her mouth, the universal sign to remain quiet. Rex nodded, and made no move to stop the older woman as she silently moved into the room. Maybe the General would be able to do something that he couldn't do.

Aayla sat on the bed, the slight tremor from her weight making contact with the soft fabric was enough to rouse Ahsoka from her silent crying. The younger woman slowly turned around, her eyes red rimmed and puffy from crying. She looked up at the General with wide eyes, before looking away, bopping her head to look at the ash gray sheets of her temporary bed.

Her words came after a few moments of tense silence, small, meek and utterly lost. "Aayla, I-"

It was as sudden as it was surprising. The General pulled Ahsoka into an embrace. The young Togruta's eyes went wide for a moment as she found her head leaning against Aayla's chest, a hand caressing her small horns. The General did this for a moment to the stunned young girl before uttering two simple words, "its okay."

Two simple words, yet they broke what little resolve Ahsoka had left. It was amazing how those two simple words, a seemingly trivial assurance, could have such an effect. Tears burst forth from the younger woman's eyes like a breached dam, tears which should have been shed months ago. She buried her head into the older woman's chest, muttering another two simple words from cracked lips with a weak voice racked with sobs.

"I'm sorry."

Aayla shushed her softly, caressing her horns in a motherly manner as she uttered a few more words, as if to reinforce to the young woman what this older, wiser female was saying, "You're going to be okay. I'm here."

"I'm sorry."

Ahsoka cried softly, uttering those same two words over and over again as the General simply held her. Rex watched for a moment, unsure of what he was supposed to do, when a large hand made contact with his shoulder. He looked around in time to see the tall blond haired man who had freed them stand at the door frame to the small sleeping chamber. He looked at the two women, then back at him, jerking his head in the direction of the main chamber beyond the door.

Rex hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head and walked past him into the main living area. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the blond human give one last look inside the small room before silently closing the door, allowing Ahsoka a sense of privacy as she let it all out into the open.

"She's been hurting for a long time, hasn't she?"

He looked over at the human, studying him for a moment before sighing and nodding his head, "She has, indeed."

The man nodded his head in response, walking past him towards the built in kitchen area, "Do you want some caff?"

Rex hesitated for a moment, "Yeah, I think I do."

"Have a seat, I'll bring it over." The man said as he took the needed ingredients from one of the cupboards, "The name's Naruto, by the way."

"Rex," the former Captain replied as he took a seat on the main settee, arms leaning against the round table as he took another look at the door, "My name is Rex."

A comfortable silence filled the room as Naruto made the caff. A few minutes later, he walked over to the table with two steaming cups in his hands, sliding one across the table to the former Captain and holding the other in both hands once his second hand became free. He blew the steam away before taking a tentative sip to test the temperature.

"So, what made you do it?" Naruto asked in a sincere, direct manner.

Rex looked up from the caff he was nursing. It was a sudden and rather abrupt question, but he had suspected that such a question would be asked if he and Ahsoka ever had a run in with fellow Jedi.

"What made me go against orders, you mean?" he asked in response.

Naruto nodded, "Sorry to just out and say it, but from what information I gathered the clones were born and bred to be one hundred percent loyal to the Republic, so when the order came through I made a guess that they would all follow it."

"Most of us did, sadly," Rex replied as he took a gulp of his caff, uncaring as the boiling hot liquid scalded his throat. "Most of the unranked clones followed without question. They were nothing more than tamed animals in human form. If their masters gave them an order then they carried it out, plain and simple. Ranked officers had more independence and freedom, but even then the training and mental conditioning meant that it took considerable willpower to defy an order, especially from the top."

"So what stopped you?" Naruto asked.

"I was trained as an ARC trooper, short for Advanced Reconnaissance Commando," Rex explained, "Those of us who were trained as such didn't have as much mental conditioning or unbiased loyalty in the Republic. We were born and bred to think outside the box, and to fight using unorthodox methods and tactics. We were trained by independents. The first batch of ARC troopers were trained by Jango Fett himself, and the survivors of that batch trained every generation since."

"So when the order came down-" Naruto began, only to be cut off by Rex.

"I basically told the commander in charge to shove it, then I put a blaster bolt between his eyes," Rex replied simply, taking another sip of his drink, "Word began to reach us that my case wasn't isolated, any ARC Trooper which served beside a decent Jedi for too long did the exact same thing that I did. The best case was on Kashyyyk when a full strike team turned on the clones they were fighting with to allow their Jedi commanders time to escape."

He looked up in time to see this Naruto grinning like a madman, "So if you ever try to sell us out…"

He let the idea hang in the air, unfinished, but he didn't have to finish it. Rex managed a smile before he replied, "Then you have my permission to shoot me or slice me in half. I will never betray Ahsoka, and I will never betray any Jedi I fought beside."

"That's good enough for me," Naruto replied as he stood up, taking a look at the door. "I better put another batch of caff on. I'm guessing Aayla and Ahsoka may need it when they come out."

Naruto then turned back to Rex with a more honest smile, extending his hand, "Welcome aboard."

Rex looked at the hand and smiled, clasping it and shaking it in reciprocal greeting and friendship, "Thanks, Naruto."

It was another ten minutes before the door to the small room did open. Aayla came out first, guiding Ahsoka by the hand. The teenage girl's eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, more so than before. But she looked just that little bit better than she did when she was cuffed and imprisoned on this very deck half an hour ago.

Aayla gently sat her down, and her rear hadn't even finished being absorbed into the seat when a cup of steaming hot caff was placed in front of her. She looked up, smiling gratefully at Naruto who patted her on the shoulder before moving to take his seat right beside Aayla, who had picked up her cup and was currently blowing out the steam.

"So are you feeling alright now, kiddo?" Naruto asked.

Ahsoka nodded as she leaned into the chair, hands moving up to wipe the remnants of her tears from her cheeks and her eyes. Her cheeks were slimy from the warm salty water, "Yes, I feel much better now, thanks. Oh, Force me, I must look like a mess."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto replied, waving her comment off with a good-natured laugh, "It's never good for you to let things bottle up; believe me, everyone on this ship knows that all too well."

She looked over at him for a long moment, "I'm sorry for being rude... well; actually I'm not, but who the hell _are_ you?"

Rex smirked a little. There was the Ahsoka he remembered… just a little bit, but it was a good start.

The blond looked like he was about to reply, when the honeyed voice of the former General Aayla Secura spoke up in his stead. She looked over at him and smiled warmly, hand on his. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He's my mate, and the man who saved my life."

"And mine," Celeste said as she walked into the main room from the corridor leading to the engine room, wiping her oil smeared hands with a dirty cloth.

"So how're the engines?" Aayla asked with a quirked up brow.

"Working like a dream," Celeste replied as she sat down beside her, "I'll admit it, okay? Those engineers may not have been the most reliable sort, but they did their job very well."

Ahsoka had used the time spent by the third member of the crew's arrival to try and digest the information, but she was having trouble. It wasn't the name, which she admitted was strange, or the fact that he saved Aayla's life that surprised her. It was the word used in the middle of her older sibling's sentence. She couldn't have said what she thought she said could she?

"Sorry," she said at last, "I could have sworn I heard you say he was your…_mate_?"

Aayla looked over at the young woman, smirking slightly, "You heard right."

Ahsoka's eyes went as wide as saucers for a moment; mouth hanging slightly agape as she completely took in the answer. That was supposed to be impossible, a complete taboo on the Jedi code, an unfair taboo mind you, but a taboo none the less, "I remember that you were a bit of a stickler for the rules, Aayla."

"I realised there were things that were far more important than the rules," Aayla replied with a true happy smile.

Naruto was expecting plenty of potential responses to what Aayla had said: disbelief, fainting spells, disapproval, extensive frowning, and in one potential scenario, he could see this young Padawan attempting to excommunicate Aayla from the Jedi Order. He wasn't really surprised when the Apprentice smirked in response instead, but it wasn't really what he was expecting. His imagination was getting the best of him.

"That must be an interesting story," Ahsoka said, smirk slowly turning into a smile.

"And a long one," Celeste interjected.

"We have time," Ahsoka shot back lightly, before looking at the woman a bit more closely. "And who the hell are _you_?"

Celeste gave her a dangerous smile, "Your senior, girl."

Ahsoka turned back to Aayla, "Is her story connected to yours?"

"Yes," Aayla nodded, "But like Celeste said, it's a long one."

"Like I said," Ahsoka shot back again, "We have time."

Aayla sighed, "Should we tell her?"

Naruto shrugged, "Couldn't hurt."

So the three of them began to tell their story to Ahsoka and Rex, not leaving out a single detail from the moment Aayla and Naruto met on Felucia to their adventures with the crew of the _Uhumele_, to their battle with Vader and their discovery and recruitment of Celeste, all the way to their trials on Nar Shaddaa and the moment Naruto and Aayla admitted and embraced their feelings for each other…and then each other. They left nothing out from what they told her.

By the end of it, the three of them left a rapidly blinking young girl, desperately trying to take in all of the information, even the stuff that just sounded plain crazy. She was trying to get her head around some of the more unbelievable things told to her in their recollection, but at the same time there was happiness in her gaze in knowing that there were still more Jedi left alive; that Naruto, Aayla and Celeste had found nearly a half dozen during their travels.

"So you found him in a tree?" she asked incredulously.

All three nodded their heads.

"And you two found her in a millennia old coffin." She continued, pointing to Celeste.

The three of them nodded again.

Ahsoka looked over at Naruto for a moment, frowning before pointing at him with her thumb, "And he defeated a Sith Lord in less than five minutes?"

"I think I kind of took him by surprise," Naruto admitted.

"You three have got to realise how insane some of this sounds," Rex spoke bluntly.

"We do. There were times when I openly flinched when some details were told, but it's the truth. I really was found inside a tree, Celeste had been imprisoned inside an ancient sarcophagus in a life or death duel with a Sith Lord for four millennia or so, and I really did kick Darth Vader's shiny metal ass," The blond haired human said this with such confidence that even Rex had to admit that it was difficult to call his bluff, and when two other Jedi backed his claims...

There was silence for a moment before Ahsoka finally spoke up, "So…what are you all going to do now?"

"We're going to a little secluded spot where Naruto can continue to teach us the techniques of his people," Aayla replied, "He's already started teaching both me and Celeste in the basics, and he promised us that during the next six months he's going to turn us from what he calls Genin-level Shinobi to at least high-Chūnin."

At Ahsoka's bewildered look Naruto reiterated, "Genin would be the equivalent of a Padawan, Chūnin would be like a Knight and Jōnin, which is what I am, would be roughly the same calibre as a Master in the Jedi Order."

Ahsoka seemed to be deep in thought, wanting to say something but unsure of what would happen when she said it. Aayla caught onto her look right away, and gently nudged her mates arm, gaining his attention. It wasn't him or her who spoke up, but Celeste, who looked over the young woman and offered a small smile before she extended an invitation.

"Do you want to come with us?"

Ahsoka looked over at the black haired Jedi Shadow, biting her lower lip for a moment as she thought before finally nodding her head, uttering a reply, "Yes, if you'll have me."

"It won't be easy training, kiddo," Naruto warned, gravelly voice taking on a tone of the utmost seriousness, "These next six months will probably be the hardest training you'll have seen in your life. I will be pushing all of you above and beyond your absolute physical and mental limits. It will be painful, it will be bone shatteringly tiring, and it will be extremely harsh…but when you've done it all, you'll be able to take on almost anyone."

"I understand," Ahsoka replied with a nod and a voice of absolute conviction. This was what she was after. This is what she felt both in herself and the force was needed for her to become more than what she was. She was tired of being afraid, tired of being angry, and she was tired of feeling helpless. She wanted to do something about it.

"While I'm at it, we will have to purge what remains of that anger and hate from you. I will not train you any higher than the basics if you cannot control and extinguish your negative emotions. Those emotions created the deadliest and most unmerciful forces my planet had ever seen, and they ripped it apart in their quest for a twisted sort of peace." Naruto looked at her with eyes of flame, passion and conviction all rolled into one.

Ahsoka took a deep breath, feeling that the anger didn't claw on nearly as badly as it had before. She was already on the right path; she just needed to continue down it. She spoke her next words with conviction and an unshakable will, "I understand. Please, teach me."

Naruto looked at her for a long moment with eyes of pure untainted steel before he finally closed them and nodded his head, "Very well, we should reach Boz Pity in two days. The second we hit the ground we'll be looking for the perfect terrain, and then the training will begin."

* * *

Those two days passed quickly, and they arrived in the system which housed the infamous graveyard planet at least five hours ahead of schedule. As the _Will of Fire _approached the planet, they detected no signs of civilised life anywhere in the system. There were no ships in orbit, nor were there any indications of settlements on the ground. The fears of the Jedi appeared to be unfounded. The Empire had moved its troops from here some time ago, and left nothing for any potential scavengers.

From space, it looked like a standard liveable planet, with one massive continent surrounded by vast oceans. Aayla and Celeste had told Naruto plenty about this planet: how its original inhabitants had been starved to extinction by the Hutts, leaving no sentient life. However, those extinct people had left their mark on the planet which was once their home, and now their tomb, in massive 'Death Memorials' depicting what many archaeologists believed were the engraved names of their dead. The skeletons of these huge mammoth creatures now littered the landscape.

Since this race's extinction, life had slowly begun to return on the planet: once-barren wastelands turning into extensive rolling hills of greenery, rocky slopes and high snow capped mountains. The huge memorials and ruins of the dead civilisation however remained, mauled by time and covered in vines and plant life, but they remained: an eons-old and noble testimony to what once existed on this planet.

They entered the atmosphere and sped down to the surface with no trouble, no alarm claxons sounding to warn them of potential pursuit. They were truly the only sentient life on this rock. They flew for nearly an hour, scouring the landscape for what Naruto called the perfect spot. They found it.

It was a wide valley, the broken and burned-out carcass of a Venator-class Star Destroyer half-buried in the centre, a monument to the Battle which the Separatists and the Republic fought a year or two earlier. Small mountains rose on all sides and the landscape of the valley was one of rolling fields, with masses of forests surrounding the infant mountains. They could make out a few bodies of water scattered across the valley, and there was a hint of a river running through the forest. It did indeed look like the perfect place.

"That wreck," Naruto murmured, and Aayla looked up in time to see him looking at it thoughtfully before turning to flash a grin, "Can you land inside it?"

Aayla flew over her once, then twice to check her out from both angles, "She's too well-intact for me to land inside her, but I can land under one of her wings."

"No," Naruto replied with a sigh, "Find a clearing in the surrounding forests and put her down there. We'll use camouflage nets and keep her on basic systems to make sure she isn't spotted by anyone who comes wandering this way."

Aayla nodded, and after another five minutes of low-level flying, she did indeed find a clearing just big enough for the _Will of Fire _to set down on, at the northern edge of the valley, within nearly a kilometre of forest. It was the perfect place to hide her. It took the crew of five barely half an hour to get the camouflage nets up and shutting down everything except the most basic systems. It was sunset by the time the five of them were done, and Naruto looked over the tree line, grinning like a madman before turning back to his three prospective pupils and a soldier who would probably be having a fairly easy time of the next six months…unless he decided to become a pupil of Naruto's himself. Naruto found himself wondering if clones that were grown as full life forms had chakra networks the same way that normal humans did.

Deciding that he could investigate the possibility of helping Rex to learn a few Shinobi skills some other time, he turned his attention to the three females in his company.

"You're six months of training starts now," Naruto explained with a smile that took on a sadistic quality, "I hope you're all ready, because as far as being a teacher is concerned, I can be pretty ruthless."

* * *

_**Authors Note 1: **__Sorry it took so long updating the chapter this week. My Beta-Reader was having a busy week and couldn't get it finished and sent back to me until barely an hour ago. But it's here now and hopefully you guys have all found it worth the wait._

_**Authors Note 2: **__Now onto the story itself. I am thinking of time-skipping past the next six months, basically fast-forwarding to the moment where their training officially ends. I figured that way they're learned techniques and abilities will be kept a secret until they are forced to use them, and all three of them are going to be using very different skills and abilities._

_I am also thinking of writing up a few one-shots from time to time, nothing at the moment, but maybe later on when I am further into the story I'll write a few side stories. I've been having an idea of a couple of one-shots, one dealing with the crew of the Uhumele and their search for Crys's son, another possibly on Sasuke's internment by the Empire and so on, but not until I've passed them by on the main story._

_**Authors Note 3: **__To finish up I've been asked by quite a lot of readers if I'm going to be implementing a harem into the story, mainly on the subject of Celeste. The answer to this is no. I have found that the addition of a harem into a story usually does more harm than good, and for those few who do succeed in writing one they need to be pretty gifted authors, and I feel that I would not be able to do it. I'm kind of jumping into uncharted territory. I've never attempted to do any in depth romance before I wrote this story, and I am going to be going further into uncharted territory when I write the... intimate scenes in the future. In short I do not feel confident enough to dive any further in._

_As to those intimate scenes well, they're not coming just yet. I just feel that the scene needs to be implemented at the right moment, and with what I'm doing we're not at the supposed 'right moment' yet. The team still has a lot to do, and a lot of potential hurdles to overcome. Just know that I will give you a warning a few chapters in advance when I feel the timing is right. _


	25. Enemy & Friend

_**Chapter 25**_

_**Enemy & Friend**_

_**3 Months Earlier**_

The tranquility of the forest was shattered by a splash, followed by a string of curse words the likes of which would probably make even the hardiest of smugglers and sailors cringe. Naruto sighed while smirking bemusedly. He tipped up his small straw hat and looked out over the rippling surface of the lake to see his third, youngest, and thoroughly water-logged apprentice…swimming back to shore after failing at the water walking exercise…again. Mischief danced in his azure eyes as the girl that he had taken in continued to amuse him.

"Ahsoka, watch your language," he said, just loud enough for the soaked teenager to hear him, before tipping his hat back over his eyes. With an exhale of contentment, he continued to lean against the trunk of the nearest tree to the lake, at that moment probably the most relaxed being on the planet.

Ahsoka coughed before standing up and shivering, water cascading off her form in rivulets. Her response seemed to be tempered somewhat; whether by the cold of an autumn day or by her unceremonious dunk into the lake, Naruto couldn't be sure, but it took her a good five seconds to explode this time, where before it was almost instantaneous.

"Why in the name of the force can I not get this Sith-forsaken, Bantha-poodoo, Hutt-stinking exercise!" she cried into the quiet tranquility of the forest. Off in the distance, a mass of small animals could be heard scattering in every direction…all of them away from the eminent danger that was Ahsoka.

Naruto continued to smirk at her simmering exchange with no one in particular. Oh, how she reminded him of a certain young, brash, blonde-haired, whisker-faced, dare he say it, devilishly-handsome twelve-year-old genin who once studied under the ultimate coolness of one Kakashi Hatake. Much like him, she was cocky, arrogant at times, impulsive and had a short fuse, especially when she was trying to get something but couldn't. Despite these qualities, and also much like him, she was fiercely determined. If someone set a bar in front of her, she would do everything in her power to surpass it. If someone showed her a new technique, she would keep practicing until she mastered it. And if her friends were ever in danger, the lengths to which she would go to save them would be limitless.

"You'll get it, eventually…" Naruto consoled the frustrated young girl as he took off the straw hat and stood up. He walked over to her with a shake of his head and a reassuring smile, "…some people learn certain things quicker than others; some people have a harder time with certain things. Don't worry; you'll get it in time. I have complete faith in my cute, little apprentice," he finished by pinching her cheek condescendingly and gently tapping her nose with his finger.

She gave him a glare before she shivered again. It wasn't just because of the low temperature. It was also due to fatigue. The girl had been at it since dawn, and her chakra reserves were beginning to get low. They weren't down to a dangerous level, but they were beginning to get close, "I'll keep at this until I get it right."

"Not right now," Naruto replied in a suddenly serious tone, ignoring her simmering look, "Ahsoka, you've been at this for nearly five hours. Your chakra reserves are beginning to get very low, and I've already explained exactly what can happen when you're chakra reaches zero right?"

"But according to Aayla, the Force replenishes our chakra systems," Ahsoka pointed out with a tired but sly smile.

"And believe me, I believe her…" Naruto shot back without missing a beat, smirking himself, "…however, as your teacher, I will not take that chance. I want you to go back to camp, eat, get at least eight hours of rest and then report back here so we can continue, alright?"

Ahsoka tried to glare at him, but it evaporated after a few seconds. She was tired, nearly exhausted in fact, and at the moment, the idea of the warmth of her sleeping bag seemed irresistible. It annoyed her just a little that her teacher didn't seem to need any sleep at all.

"How do you do it?" she asked, letting her annoyance be known.

Naruto quirked his brow, "You want to know?"

She nodded her head.

Looking furtively this way and that, he leaned towards her and gestured for her to draw near as he replied in a conspirator's tone, "Come closer."

Ahsoka leaned forward, eyes alight in an almost childish curiosity which made Naruto's smirk grow into a small grin as he finished his sentence.

"It's a secret," he whispered, before laughing quite loudly.

Ahsoka huffed, "You are an ass!"

"That is exactly how you are supposed to view a teacher," Naruto returned with a grin as his laughter died down.

Ahsoka stomped away several feet, before stopping at the edge of the clearing and looking back, "Seriously though, how do you do it?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment before sighing, "We shinobi were taught from a very young age that although sleep is important, it can also be dangerous. We trained our bodies until near collapse to know our limits, to know when to rest, and when to fight. Shinobi are incredibly light sleepers; some even sleep with one eye open. Just the snap of a twig or the flutter of a feather can wake us up."

Ahsoka nodded her head, "It sounds like such a…life or death scenario."

"We were soldiers, little one…" Naruto replied with a small, humourless smile, "…it was a life or death scenario, and my ability to go on little to no sleep is a side effect of having to live with paranoia as my best friend, and even my lover at times."

She hesitated a moment, just a moment, before she nodded her head, bade him a goodnight, and left towards their camp. Rex had taken the _Will of Fire _out to a neighbouring outpost planet a few days ago, mostly to catch up on supplies and to make contact with a unit of renegade ARC troopers he had heard was hidden there. The four of them had to make do with tents, sleeping bags and fires until he returned.

Naruto waited a moment, making sure that Ahsoka had truly returned to the camp before turning back towards the once-again tranquil lake and stepping forward. He pumped a minuscule amount of chakra into the soles of his feet just as he took his first step onto the surface of the water. He continued walking as if he were still on dry land, so used to using the water walking exercise that it was just like second nature to him.

The last Shinobi walked to the centre of the lake and stopped, looking right and then left before taking a deep breath and pulling out a small storage scroll, pulling the seal off its cylindrical form before opening it with a twist of his wrist, muttering the release seal from his lips before the explosion of smoke overtook him.

The sheathed katana, his clan's family katana, always held by the leader of the Uzumaki Clan, flew high above the smoke. Cloth rolled around the hilt and along its sheathe, fluttering in the breeze as it rose as high as it could…before gravity did its work and began pulling it towards the water. Naruto's hand snapped outward from the smoke, seizing the sheath in a fluid grasp.

He brought the sheathed sword in front of him, placing one hand on the hilt and the other on the sheathe just below the guard, drawing it in a single flowing motion, listening as the blade hummed in the wind. He tossed the sheath away, knowing that it would reach the shore as he gracefully fell into a defensive sword-fighting stance.

He needed to practise too, after all.

His every move was fluid and precise as he followed the basic kata of a particular kenjutsu style he had learned nearly half a decade before, on the soil of the village of Kirigakure. Mei Terumi, the Godaime Mizukage, had given him a place to stay for a time and offered to teach him everything he wished in order to prepare him for his hunt for Madara and the Akatsuki. Every time he remembered her, he remembered a strong and beautiful Kunoichi, angry at the losses of her people and seeing him as a young man who had lost everything, just as she had.

He felt a unique kinship with the woman, the exact nature of which he wasn't quite able to define. At times, he thought of her as a big sister; there were even a few times when, after Hinata had perished, he had given some thought to pursuing the beautiful, lava-spewing red-head as a romantic partner, but he'd never voiced such a desire. Suffice it to say, "Kindred Spirit" was the label that seemed to best align with his feelings towards her.

Sometimes he wondered how Mei was doing, as well as the Raikage, Gaara, Konan and those others who had survived the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. Did they follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, or did they actually bring peace to the land and eliminate the need for war? Naruto did not know what was happening, would probably never know, but he hoped that they did as they had planned.

"_Your belief in human nature is admirable, but also foolish."_

He faltered for a moment, but almost immediately continued his practise of the kata, listening to his dark half as an afterthought. He followed the first three dances of stab, slash, deflect and block before moving onto the more intricate forms, all the while his darker half continued to talk to him, to taunt him.

"_The nature of human beings has always been to destroy and conquer, and eventually to destroy themselves."_

He swore he could feel his dark half smiling wickedly as he spoke. His movements suddenly had a little more edge in them as he spun, parried, slashed and stabbed at an invisible opponent which was slowly beginning to take the shape of him, only with crimson eyes with slit pupils and pallid skin.

"_How long before this ideal life ends, brother?" _his dark half continued to taunt, imagination showing his other half with his hands in his pockets and a mocking smile on his pallid features, _"How long before she learns the truth about what you carry? How long before they all realise the truth? Do you truly believe that they would still accept you? And here I was…thinking that you were over such childish, happy fantasy endings."_

"Enough."

"_Once they realise what you carry, they will see you, see us, for what we truly are…do you know what that will be, brother?"_

"Enough!"

_"They will see us as monsters."_

"ENOUGH!"

He swung his sword so hard and with such chakra that it created a small gale of energy, forcing the water to ripple violently and the trees to creak as their branches moved to the sudden outpouring of power. Naruto remained where he was, panting as he mulled over his darker half's words, knowing that it was his ultimate fear in this life: to lose those he now considered his friends, his family.

He feared to lose Celeste, who he now viewed as a sister.

He feared to lose Ahsoka and Rex, who, although they had only been members of his crew for the last few months, had become family in his mind.

Above all else however, he feared losing Aayla. At this moment, losing her would truly bring him to the brink of insanity, and this time he probably wouldn't be able to come back from it. Losing his village, his friends and his first love had turned him into an avenger greater and more terrible than even Sasuke had been. He had loved Hinata so much that their love was considered legendary among the Elemental Nations. As mighty as his love for her had been, it paled in comparison to the depth and intensity of the love he now shared with Aayla Secura! If he lost her, then the whole galaxy would tremble at the very sound of his name.

That was how terrible the monsters living inside him were.

He had two choices. Should he keep his secrets hidden, knowing that when they surfaced, he risked seeing those he now trusted turning away from him? Or should he tell them, and still risk seeing them turn around and walk away from him…or worse still, attempt to kill him for what he had buried deep within him?

He stood there, on the centre of the lake, for several long minutes, his mind going back and forth on what the best option was. He knew that he would have to face his darkness again, eventually. It was just a matter of knowing that he had his new friends around him when he did. Would they remain at his side, or would they turn away and forsake him?

That was the question that always plagued him…the question that gave his darkness a foothold. It was time to start facing that darkness. Naruto took a deep breath before opening his eyes and looking ahead. It was time to find an answer.

* * *

Night had fallen nearly three hours ago, and Naruto still hadn't returned to camp. Aayla looked around for a moment before sighing resignedly. She picked up a stick of dried wood and threw it into the dying fire, listening to the crackle of the flames as they consumed the timber. Indulging her sombre mood she curled up, gripping onto her legs and placing the bottom of her chin against her knees.

Celeste and Ahsoka had already turned in for the night. With the _Will of Fire _out on a "gopher run" as Rex called his little errand flights, all the others had to protect them against the elements were two tents, each big enough for two people plus basic belongings, surrounding a small circle of stones that marked the outer edge of their fire pit, their primary source of heat and light.

Of course, they weren't really left to the mercy of the elements. The fabric of the tents were woven with insulation and microscopic thermals to keep the cold out, and the storage scrolls they were all recently taught how to make and use kept their supplies fresh and well-preserved. Ahsoka and Celeste shared one tent, while Aayla and Naruto shared the other, each tent on diametrically-opposing sides of the circular stone fire pit, several meters back from its edge.

She was beginning to worry. It wasn't like Naruto to be late coming back from training in the wild, of all things. Granted, Naruto was more than capable of taking care of himself, but there was a nagging feeling in her gut that something wasn't right, or at least something wasn't as it should be. A small part of her, in the back of her mind, went through the worst case scenarios: what if he had gotten lost? What if something had happened and he'd been hurt? What if they'd been tracked and found by Imperials or Sith?

Aayla eventually let her common sense calm her. This was Naruto Uzumaki she was thinking about, after all. That man would never allow his life to be ended by something as simple as a fall or an animal attack, or even getting lost in the wilderness. As far as the Sith went, the man had faced down Darth Vader in single combat…and had embarrassed him.

"Aayla," she heard from the voice that she loved to hear more than any other from behind her.

She turned around with a smile to see Naruto walking up to her from the edge of the clearing, the dim light from the crackling fire dancing across his form and his features. Her smile slowly morphed into a frown of concern when she saw that his expression wasn't the same as usual. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he was about to go into battle, and through the Force, she could sense that he was worried, hesitant about something, and…fearful.

"Naruto?" she asked in a low voice so as not to wake the other two members of their little group.

She stood up and covered herself in the brown cloak that she had taken to wearing to ward off the autumn chill. Walking towards him slowly, her concern for his well-being evident across her features, she asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

He managed a small smile, "You know me too well."

Aayla didn't reply with her usual antics, the raising of her brow or with a small smirk and a light jib. She felt through the force that this was not such a time, "Something is bothering you greatly; your feelings betray you."

He walked over to her, gently pressing his forehead against hers as he placed his hands on her shoulders. He revelled in her warmth, and in the connection they had just begun to establish before pulling away and looking down into the warm depths of her dark eyes, "There is something that I need to tell you. Will you come with me for a while?"

She hesitated for the briefest of moments to collect her thoughts. Something was bothering him, that much she could tell and it was something serious…serious enough that he only wanted to tell her at the moment. He didn't want to talk to Celeste, Rex or Ahsoka about this, at least not yet. All of this, she had gleaned from the intense emotions coming from him, rippling through the Force.

She smiled reassuringly, "Of course, I'll come."

He smiled gratefully, relieved, "Thank you."

He then turned and started walking away from the camp. Aayla hesitated a moment more before following him. She followed him through the darkness of the forest, easily keeping up with him as he passed by thick, sturdy tree trunks. After crossing the shallow stream that provided them with their drinking water, they walked up a rolling hill. They must have been about a kilometre away from the camp before he stopped and turned around.

He moved across the small clearing, took out several glow-torches from his utility belt, and stabbed them into the ground, one by one. With a spark of his chakra, he lit them, bright white light exploded from the tips, illuminating the clearing and allowing Aayla to see him clearly. He looked across from her, his azure eyes more nervous and unsure than she had ever seen them, "There's something I need to tell you, Aayla."

"I'm listening," she replied softly and with a gentle smile. Naruto managed a weak smile in return, allowing the tension to ease just a little, but he slowly shook his head and stared off to the edge of the forest to his right. After a few moments, he sighed and then sat down, crossing his legs. Aayla's concern for her lover grew in leaps and bounds; he was behaving in a way that was so out-of-character for him.

She walked slowly towards him and stopped when two meters or so separated the two. She sat down across from him, crossing her own legs and placing her hands on her knees for support as she looked over at her beloved. Her brow creased somewhat as she attempted to glean exactly what was causing him such worry and uncertainty. He looked over at her, and sighed with a weak, nervous laugh.

"I don't know where to start," he managed at last.

Aayla mulled over his words for a moment before offering a disarming smile, "Well, I hear that a good place to begin is…the beginning."

Naruto chuckled dryly, "Right…from the beginning."

He took a deep breath, then another, and finally a third, before he opened his eyes and stared directly into her own, still nervous but seemingly determined to go through with what he was about to say, "Do you remember the story I told you, about the attack on my village on the day of my birth?"

Aayla nodded her head, "Yes, about how your village was attacked by a powerful creature…a demon, if I remember correctly. It was under the control of a Madara Uchiha and the Fourth Hokage, your father, was able to defeat it at the cost of the lives of both him and your mother."

"That's... the edited version, yes…" Naruto replied, "…but what I am about to tell you is the rest of the tale."

Aayla didn't reply; she simply waited and listened, giving him her complete and undivided attention.

"The Kyuubi no Yoko was so powerful…that even the combined might of the Shinobi of Konoha couldn't defeat it. One of the greatest armies the continent had ever witnessed…and all they could do was slow it down. It was so strong, even my father did not have the strength to defeat it."

Naruto took another breath, "So instead, he did the only thing he could do to protect the village. He used a suicidal sealing Jutsu to seal the Kyuubi away inside a container…a living container."

Aayla hesitated for a moment, feeling a chill which was not caused by the weather crawl up her spine, "And what did they seal it inside, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, sighed, scratched the back of his head and then slowly rose. It was so quiet that a pin drop could have been heard from thirty meters off. The tension in the air was so thick that they both began to find it oppressive. Naruto, delaying no longer, pulled up his shirt, revealing the tanned skin of his stomach. With the slightest exertion of chakra, he showed Aayla the intricate seal which housed one of the most destructive forces of nature ever known.

"He sealed it inside me," he responded quietly. Aayla could hear his voice cracking ever so slightly as he spoke, but he persevered, knowing that the woman before him deserved to know exactly what she was getting into, what all of them were getting into, by associating with him. His greatest fear seemed to flash before his eyes: she was going to leave; they were all going to leave with her.

Despite his fear, he continued relaying his story, "Inside me is imprisoned a creature so powerful…that with a simple swing of its tail, mountains would crumble, forests would cease to exist, tsunamis would sweep in and rip up everything in their path. Within me is one of the most destructive forces of nature ever known."

There was silence - complete and utter silence. Naruto had stopped looking at her, turning his back on Aayla to look out over the forest beyond. He felt like such a fool, allowing himself to think that anybody but Hinata could love him. Maybe his dark half was right: maybe there was no one left in this galaxy who would accept him, at least not all of him.

Naruto punctuated his heavy heart with a heartbroken sigh, "When Rex comes back, the three of you can hitch a ride. I won't stop you…" he was interrupted by Aayla.

"Naruto, I just have one question…" she replied, making him look back at her. He saw that there was no fear in her eyes, no anger, no hatred. Surprise was there, to be certain, but it was coupled with curiosity…and empathy? She posed her question, "…why did your father seal it inside you? Surely, there must have…been some other way?"

"There wasn't…" Naruto replied, turning away from her again to look out over the forest. He contemplated keeping silent her for a moment, before sighing in defeat. He had already told her this much; it wouldn't be right to not tell her the rest, "…I wasn't the first Jinchūriki to carry the Kyuubi no Yoko. My mother carried it before me, and another elder member of the Uzumaki Clan before her. The Kyuubi was once the personal weapon of Madara Uchiha, one of the founders of Konoha. He wished to take on the mantle of Hokage, and so challenged the First to combat. He summoned the Kyuubi and was about to kill the First, but he was stopped by the Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki, who sealed it within herself. The village knew that once she died it would be released back into the world, so they planned on switching containers, and my mother was a prime candidate."

"That sounds awful," Aayla responded, horrified at the potential implications of carrying such a burden.

"It was…" Naruto agreed with a nod, "…but it needed to be done. Over time, other villages saw this, and their leaders thought that if Konoha could control a tailed beast, then so could they. They began using the Bijuu they had imprisoned, implanting them within people, usually newborns or very young children. Within three years of that battle, each village had their own private super-weapon. In some villages, like Kumo, Jinchūriki were revered and respected. In others, such as Suna, they were reviled and mistreated. Fear can do terrible things. In Konoha, Mito and my mother's condition was kept secret by the Third and his council, who wished them to live their lives without fear. Mito was a respected elder until her death, and my mother became a strong Kunoichi, and she met my father, who saved her life and the two of them eventually got married."

"Then…how did it get loose, if it was sealed beforehand?"

Naruto continued to be both surprised and relieved at Aayla's sincere, empathizing curiosity, "My mother was pregnant with me and was about to give birth. It is known from experience that birth is a dangerous time for a female Jinchūriki. Their immune system and their will are both weakened by the labour, and most of their chakra is diverted towards the birth canal, so there's not as much available to hold the seal. If not properly managed, the sealed demon could break out. Madara was able to infiltrate the grounds, kill the Shinobi guarding her, and then kidnap her…one minute after she'd birthed me. By the time my father trailed them, it was too late. Madara had forcefully extracted the Kyuubi and set it loose upon Konoha. My mother was dying; a forced extraction usually kills a Jinchūriki instantaneously, and it was only due to her Uzumaki blood that she was able to survive…if only just."

She said nothing, continuing to pay Naruto rapt attention.

He continued, "My father fought Madara, defeated him, and then used me to seal away the Kyuubi no Yoko. It killed him, and my mother also died protecting me. I was the only being healthy enough to be able to withstand the sealing; there was no other way."

He looked over in time to see a tear roll down Aayla's cheek. It surprised him; he was expecting her to yell at him…call him a monster and a devil…run away from him as fast as she could; anything but what he was seeing! She didn't shout…she didn't run…she didn't even move! She just stood there, unable to pry her gaze from him as she cried silently for him.

"It sounds like an awful ordeal to go through," she finally said, her tears evident in her voice.

"It was…" Naruto replied with a solemn bow of his head as he turned away, "…and I can't put either you or the others in danger because of it. I'm going to face this, and end it tonight. I may win; I may lose. But either way, I want you and the others to get as far away from here as possible."

"No," she responded forcefully.

Surprised, he spun around, ready to give her a firm retort. Before the words could leave his lips, however, he was tackled with such force that he lost his footing and fell onto his back. Aayla pinned him down, using her knees to straddle him before giving him a piercing look: one of a woman who has made up her mind and would not be deterred.

'Such a stubborn woman I've fallen in love with,' he thought to himself before telling her, "This is not a game, Aayla."

"You think I don't know that?" she shot back, leaning forward so that their noses were touching. Her gaze was that of a furious warrior who would not be defied, her jaw set in grim determination.

This woman…this amazing, wonderful, woman…his warrior woman, spoke up once more, "I will admit that I barely understand the gravity of what you have just told me. But I know that if you are about to face your inner demons, then I will not allow you to do it alone!"

"I can only do it alone!" Naruto fired back angrily, "…don't you understand? I may be entering a place where there is no going back, into a battle that I may very well lose. I will not put you or anyone else in that kind of danger…"

Aayla interrupted him once more, "And I will not let you face it alone, regardless of the danger!"

Her features then softened, "Naruto, don't you understand? I love you! Nothing else matters to me, and nothing you could ever tell me would change that! Even if you tell me you are the devil himself, I would **still** love you, and I will not allow you to fight this battle without me! I can't let you! I CAN'T LOSE YOU!"

Naruto's eyes went wide at this; even in his wildest dreams, he couldn't have imagined anyone, even Hinata, this determined to face the level of danger that they were about to face. She was committed, he could see that now! He simply looked up at the radiant creature before him, her exclamations shouting through his mind.

_"I love you!"_

_"Nothing else matters to me!"_

_"I CAN'T LOSE YOU!"_

Those words echoed through his mind, blocking out his fear and his trepidation. They vanished as surely as the changing of the tide.

Aayla spoke again, slackening her hold on him as she looked down, her eyes now filled with anguished pain, "I will admit this. The fact that you thought I would leave because of this; that I would forsake you…that hurts, Naruto. Do you really have so little faith in me? In us? In the others who have grown to care for you and love you, here?"

Naruto closed his eyes, and shed a few tears of his own, "Aayla…I'm sorry. You're right…I was wrong to think that…" he added with a smile, "…and I've never been so happy to be wrong about something in all my life."

She smiled weakly down at him, "I am not going to let you go through this alone. I will stand beside you and support you. I will raise my blade for you. I will not abandon you…I love you, so please…believe in me. Believe in the love we share. Believe in Celeste, and Rex, and Ahsoka, too; we will never abandon you, Naruto. When we were at our darkest moments, you saved us. You kept us from falling over the edge. Now, it is my turn to save you."

"It's going to be dangerous," he said at last.

She smiled, "And?"

"We might not come back."

"I know."

"I don't want to lose you."

"You won't…" she replied with a shake of her head as she caressed his sun kissed hair, "…you've always been our protector, Naruto. You've been our rock, our pillar, our support and strength…it's my turn to strengthen you, my love."

She kissed him: a searing, passionate kiss. The moment their lips parted, many seconds later, the two of them were panting for breathe. Aayla stood and offered him her hand, "Let's do it."

Naruto no longer hesitated. He took her hand and allowed her to pull him up. He then spent the next hour with his sealing tools, making the appropriate seal: a special Uzumaki seal meant to not only allow the user to enter their mind at will, but also to bring a person of their choosing into their mindscape with them. In the oldest of Uzumaki traditions, it was considered that allowing a spouse or a lover to enter one's mind was the ultimate show of trust, the ultimate bond of affection…and it was this trust and this bond that he was about to establish with Aayla.

The seal was an intricate carving of circles and ancient runes, barely decipherable to even the most experienced of seal masters. The seal covered the flat ground at the top of the rolling hill, its points matching the exact spots where Naruto had stabbed the glow-torches into the ground a half-hour earlier. When it was completed, he and Aayla sat down, cross-legged, in the central circle, their knees touching, both of them looking at each other.

Aayla managed a nervous smile, "So what now?"

Her nervous smile was mirrored by his own as he raised his hands, palms up, "Take my hands."

She pressed the palms of her hands over his as Naruto gave further instructions, "Now, take a deep breath and relax. Clear your mind. Allow our foreheads to touch and together, utter this incantation in perfect synchronicity with me. _Yuuen Omoiyuukai no Jutsu._"

"_Yuuen Omoiyuukai no Jutsu," _Aayla repeated the phrase slowly, creaking open an eye to look at Naruto thoughtfully.

Naruto smiled, "You got it."

She smiled back, and closed her eyes again, waiting for his word.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"Then in 3…2…1…"

"_Yuuen Omoiyuukai no Jutsu." _They said it in perfect unison. The seal activated in a glowing white light, illuminating the surrounding forest, a low peaceful hum emanating from the array in which the two sat.

* * *

Her feet met with solid ground, so suddenly that Aayla very nearly lost her footing. It was only when Naruto took her forearm to steady her that the Twi'lek Jedi was truly able to discern her surroundings. She was standing in the middle of a grand hall, a corridor of stone tiled floors and flawless ancient walls. Lamps were alit, illuminating the huge chamber and the corridors beyond in a warm, almost golden hue that seemed to bounce off the walls.

Getting her bearings and steadying herself she looked over at her lover gratefully, flashing a thankful smile which he returned. Naruto released her and turned around, looking down the corridor for a long moment, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I think I've come too far to simply give up and leave now, don't you?" Aayla replied, taking a few steps to overtake Naruto and walk down the corridor.

"Do you even know where you're going?" the blond asked wryly, causing the woman he loved to stop in her tracks, hesitant for a moment before whirling around to fix him with a mock glare.

"My sense of direction isn't that bad," she replied with a quirk of her brow.

Naruto shook his head, tension lifted from his shoulders for but a moment as he walked over to his angel and took her hand in his, squeezing it in reassurance, "We go together. This is my mind, after all; I'm the only one who knows the way."

Aayla nodded, and allowed him to guide her down the long corridor. She was no master in the art of mind-walking, but she did know from lessons that the mind had the potential to be a very powerful ally…or a fearsome enemy. A person like Naruto would be able to train their mind to overcome any direct attempts at penetration. Obstacles and protective measures could take any form, from walls and barriers, to traps, and even guardians. As Naruto guided her through corridor after corridor, turn after turn, she wondered if her beloved's mind was perhaps the most intricate she had ever seen. One could easily get lost in this maze.

Eventually, the very terrain began to change. The atmosphere changed from a well-built and properly-maintained structure, to a musty environment of ancient ruins and decaying catacombs. The solid stone tiles gave way to tiles which were cracked, chipped and discolored with age, and the lower they went into this…tomb…the more broken and destroyed the floor became. The floors weren't the only thing to suffer the further down they went: moss grew in the walls, cracks in the infrastructure threatened to cause the corridors to collapse, and as they ventured further, the roof began to show the same wear and tear. The glow-lamps, once so brilliant in their luminescence, now seemed to dim away or had died altogether, causing shadows to slowly creep along the walls and floor.

Then the flooding appeared; at first, nothing more than puddles of water in the misshapen, broken tiles, but slowly growing until they were walking through at least half a meter of water. The sounds of droplets falling from the walls and cragged roof, colliding with their brethren on the ground, became more and more commonplace.

Then came the breathing: a loud, thunderous echo of exhales and inhales, slow, methodical, as if there was a sleeping giant in the cavern ahead. Aayla had to shake herself from her doubt while she continued to allow Naruto to guide her. There was no place for doubts, now. There was a sleeping giant further in, and she was about to see the demon for herself.

"Stay close to me," Naruto whispered.

"Always," she smiled, watching as he managed a smile himself before continuing on in.

Finally, the corridor came to an end, and the two found themselves in a huge, cavernous chamber. The floor was covered with ankle deep water, and splitting the room in two was a wall of steel bars: the gates of the cage. Behind the gates, however, a mass of shadows was obscuring what lay within. All Aayla could make out was a silhouette, and by the Force, it was a huge silhouette.

On closer inspection, the Jedi saw the place where the lock should be, marvelling at the fact that there was a slip of paper holding the gates shut instead. On that piece of paper were two symbols in black ink. She recognized them as kanji from Naruto's sealing training, but she didn't know what they meant. She was amazed that such a simple looking slip of paper was strong enough to seal away an animal…no, a demon capable of causing tidal waves, demolishing mountains and destroying swaths of forest with a single swing of its tails.

A familiar voice reached out from the abyss, "Well, well, well... you've finally shown, brother?"

Aayla looked to her left, absently noticing Naruto place a hand on her shoulder to keep her partially behind him. A silhouette could barely be made out in the darkness, sitting on what looked like a rickety chair, slouched and bored. The being sitting on it was still for a moment, before bringing itself to its feet with a push of its hands. The figure stepped forward, walking until it was illuminated by the low light of the chamber.

She gasped at what she saw. It looked almost exactly like Naruto, a carbon copy. His clothes, his form, his features and physique were exactly the same. This one did not look like her Naruto, though. His hair seemed to have lost its bright golden vibrancy, almost looking like it was turning white. His skin was pallid and greyish, almost as if the hand of death had touched him, yet he still moved. It was this other half's eyes that caught her attention the most, instead of being vibrant blue orbs full of life they were as crimson as droplets of blood, the pupils morphing from a round orb into a sharp sickle, glinting in the low light.

"What?" Naruto asked with a face of pure stone, "Did you think I was going to run from you forever?"

His dark half smirked, red eyes glinting like those of a predator, "So you've finally decided to face me head on. At last, I was beginning to get bored."

"It ends tonight," Naruto said simply in reply, folding his arms, "Once and for all, it will end tonight."

"I know," his darkness replied with a bitter grin., "I will admit that I have enjoyed our little dance, but I suppose all good things must come to an end."

His eyes settled on Aayla, and his smile became just that little more venomous, "So you've brought the one who brought the light back into your existence, brother?"

Naruto shot a glare of pure, unadulterated malice at his dark self.

"She is indeed a beautiful creature…almost angelic, if you would pardon the thought…" his dark half grinned, closing his eyes, "…I wonder what she would look like in chains, writhing underneath me? Oh, how I would love to see that beautiful face…torn between pain and pleasure. It would be such a spectacle to see-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence, for Naruto moved, closing the gap between them in a mere second, arm cocked back to deliver a deadly punch. There was an explosion of dust and thrown debris as the true power of his strike was made known. So powerful and untamed was the blow that it punched a hole straight through the thick rock wall.

His dark half hit the floor, skidding to a halt in a crevice of water, uncaring as chunks of rock slammed into the pool, causing ripples over the once clear, calm water. He looked at the aftermath of the strike, and scowled in disgust when he saw a long gash cut across his cheek, "Not much for talk, I see."

The dust cleared in time to see Naruto walking towards him, hands at his sides but with tenseness in his stance that meant he was ready for almost everything. His eyes had already morphed into the yellow sclera and bar shaped pupils of his infamous Sage Mode, red pigment flowing across his eyelids.

"Not much for warming up, either," his dark half finished wryly. His eyes scanned his grazed cheek just in time to see it heal over. His grin returned as he activated the Sage Mode himself, becoming an evil abomination of the man he was fighting against. The sclera remained crimson, but his pupils morphed further into the shape of crosses, merging his sickle shaped pupils with the bar shaped counterparts of the technique. The pigment that covered his lids was not red either. Instead they were a pitch black, as black as any abyss.

Deep within the shadows of his cage, the Kyuubi no Yoko opened a single, crimson eye.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1:**__ Merry Christmas all and a Happy New Year. __It's been a month, and I apologise for the long wait. This is to make up for that, the first edited part of my planned one-shot, I will continue to update with the one-shot separated into segments here, then upload the uncut version as a one-shot onto my profile. You'll know when it's up so don't worry. The next chapter will be called Beginning & End, and it looks like it's going to be longer than this one._

_Thanks to ncpfan for beta-reading this piece and putting his own little flare for the dramatic into it. _

_On a side note my birthday is coming up, yes I am getting older by another year. I remember when I looked forward to my birthdays, but now I'm beginning to dread them, and I'm only 24. I should be dreading these things when I hit 40 not 24. How bad is that, lol. I'll feel better when my mates get me wasted though, it's always the perfect cure ;)_


	26. Beginning & End

_**Chapter 27**_

_**Beginning & End**_

Aayla could only look on, eyes wide as she watched Naruto approach his dark half with full, confident steps, slowly gaining speed until the two of them were face to face. Naruto's punch was effortlessly intercepted, but the counter punch of his dark half was deflected in much the same way. She knew she couldn't interfere in this fight, feeling in the deepest part of her soul that if she did intervene she would be more of a hindrance than a help to him.

All she could do, for now at least, was watch this fight from the sidelines, putting her faith in Naruto to come from this victorious.

Finally one of the two opponents made a mistake, leaving him open for Naruto to take a swing. The darkness attempted to step back, and Aayla only just saw that the fist missed the cheek by mere millimetres. Then the head of the other Naruto snapped back as if he had been struck, and he went flying across the full breadth of the chamber, hitting the floor like a pebble flung across water before rolling into the far wall with a painful thud.

Aayla's eyes widened in disbelief, but also in relief. He had missed, she had seen him miss and yet his strike seemed to connect. She had felt the slightest pulses from the force once that strike landed, exactly like she had seen on Nar Shaddaa those few months before. Seeing it once made her think, but seeing it twice cemented her hypothesis. While in Sage Mode Naruto could touch the force, and he used it in a very unorthodox way from how the Jedi touch and utilise it. It was unconventional, but by the look it was also highly effective.

She looked back to his dark half just in time to see him shakily rise to his feet, a hand reaching up to wipe some blood from the corner of his mouth as he smiled darkly upon her Naruto, "Nice hit brother, looks like life hasn't slowed you down…however…"

He blurred forward with resounding speed, so fast he seemed a blur even to Aayla who augmented her eyes with the force to be able to keep up with him. Naruto's eyes widened in both surprise and alarm, seeing that within the blink of an eye his dark half had closed the gap between them. His body posture was stooped, and in his right hand was a ball of blackish crimson energy, a dark Rasengan which he slammed into Naruto's gut. Naruto seemed to double over from pain, head raised high as the air was forced from his lungs. Then he was thrown across the chamber, slamming into the far wall with enough force to create a crater.

"Living among these people has made you soft…" his dark half scoffed as he finished his sentence before looking over at Aayla and smiling darkly, "…though I can see why."

She shuddered. This one's gaze wasn't the one of her Naruto. When Naruto smiled at her she felt warm and safe, when this twisted version of Naruto smiled it made her feel like a Bantha in the presence of a Krayt Dragon, like prey before a predator. It scared her.

There was an explosion of dust and debris and Naruto was above his dark half, his own lightning-blue Rasengan aimed down. His dark half was just able to jump back, watching as Naruto drove the Rasengan into the ground with a colossal explosion which seemed to rock the superstructure of the chamber. The blast kicked up a mass of debris and dust, and once it abated there was a crater as deep as Naruto's ankle and as wide as he was in his crouch.

"Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku!"

There was a sphere of wind, swirling and violent, just in front of Naruto, compressed by chakra and being powered by the breathe being exhaled from his mouth. The sphere was as tall as he was and nearly three times as wide. His dark half was still in midair and with a final blow he sent it flying towards his dark half. The other Naruto didn't have time to get out of the way and he was encompassed by the savage sphere which seemed to explode on impact. Aayla could see the dangerous lashing winds slash and cut his skin before throwing him to the ground with bone-jarring force.

Naruto straightened himself from his crouch, watching the dust dissipate before steadily walking towards the crater. His dark half was slowly rising to his feet, covered with blood which was flowing from his several cuts and slash wounds. He looked up at his other half with anger and vile, spitting out a gob of blood. Already the wounds were closing up, leaving flawless skin and drying blood.

There was a blur as Yami moved again, flying up the side of the crater and slamming a heel palm into Naruto's chin. Naruto stumbled back, but recovered his senses quickly enough to deflect and change the course of a handful of well-timed punches and spinning kicks. When the two struck each other they struck each other at exactly the same time, both mirror images of each other as they cocked their arms back and let fly. Their fists slammed into each other's cheeks, force of their Sage Mode's sending the two of them spinning in opposite directions, slamming into the cracked concrete tiles and skidding to a halt at opposite sides of the chamber.

Aayla couldn't believe what she was seeing, such power, and such ferocity, both opponents facing each other with the single task of eliminating each other. Was this what a fight between two battle-hardened Shinobi was like? She braved a glance at the huge steel bars, seeing a pair of huge, ferocious eyes of crimson starring back from the shadowy abyss.

Was that the Kyuubi?

There was a low growl which seemed to echo through the chamber, and both Naruto and his dark half stopped. Looking over to see the huge creature rise to its feet and take a step forward. It came into the light, and Aayla saw a huge wolf-like visage of bloody eyes, orange red fur and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, just being within its presence in Naruto's mindscape made her lightheaded.

"You look better than the last time I saw you, Kyuubi," Naruto spoke up, panting for breathe.

"That's because your anger has been a little more manageable as of late, brother," His dark half, Yami, replied with a smirk.

_**"Silence,"**_the creature hissed angrily, the decibels of his voice causing an echo to repeat itself off the walls of the chamber, _**"I grow tired of watching this battle between two insects."**_

Aayla watched as the huge monster stared down both Naruto and his dark half. But she was surprised. She had expected to see a monster teeming with the power of the dark side, one which was a manifestation of evil itself. She didn't see that. She saw a great and powerful creature, full of anger and hatred for the world around it.

Images exploded through her mind, and through the force she could see a creature held in captivity its whole life by humans, first by a man with crimson eyes, then within the bodies of people like Naruto, people forced to bear its power through no choice of their own. For its entire life it had been used as a vessel for battle and power, and sometime during this era it had lost faith in the world and became consumed by its own anger.

First it had been a part of something greater, something that seemed truly evil, defeated and imprisoned within a man of supreme power. It was torn apart just before his death, becoming nine great beasts of power and strength. The Kyuubi was one of these beasts. For a time it had lived, away from humans, then it had been placed under the spell of a man named Madara, he had used it since then as his ultimate weapon.

Then he was defeated, and with his defeat the Kyuubi was imprisoned in the body of a woman, a woman who had sacrificed herself and made herself its vessel thinking that the creature would have gone mad, when in truth all she would have needed to do was to ask him to leave. He was then placed in another human's body, this one a young girl she immediately knew was Naruto's mother. In the span of a few moments she saw her life and the strong, graceful and beautiful person she became. Even the Kyuubi appeared to see it, for it left her mostly alone.

Then Madara returned, seeking to bring the Kyuubi under his control. He kidnapped Kushina, and forced the beast out of her body, almost killing her in the process. He then once again placed it under his control and set it loose upon Konoha. Eventually Naruto's father was able to remove the curse binding it to Madara and release it from his control, but by then it was so angry that removing the curse did nothing to quell its anger. It was eventually sealed within Naruto, costing his parents their lives.

It sensed her, and with a snap of its head it brought its eyes…eyes the colour of blood…upon her. She felt power, huge and terrible, consuming its form in the force; great power…corrupted by its life and anger. She felt like an insect in the presence of a giant, so easily killed by a single swipe of its paw. Its voice assaulted her ears, threatening the split the drums.

_**"You dare search through my mind!"**_

There was a blur, and a body appeared in front of her, between her and this lonely, angry creature. No, it wasn't one body. It was two. She looked up to see both Naruto and his dark half standing over her. She had fallen to her knees at some point. Both her beloved and his darkness had their backs to her, united under a single purpose as they both stared down the creature trapped behind its bars.

"Why did you move?" Naruto asked.

His evil half smirked, "You are me and I am you."

"That's just maddeningly unhelpful," Naruto replied flatly before bringing his gaze upon the Kyuubi.

The huge creature starred down the two halves of its hosts psyche before snorting in annoyance and turning around, showing its back to them as it stalked back into the darkness of its cage and slumped down to the floor, once again seemingly uncaring of what was happening around it. Naruto looked on, remembering a time, in the middle of the war where he had thought he had gotten through to him, but it seemed so far away now and he knew that the chance had been missed.

They waited until they were sure that the Kyuubi had indeed fallen back into a mood of indifference before they flew into action again. Naruto was quicker, his fist connected with the cheek of his dark half well before Yami could bring his fist around to do the same thing. His dark half was thrown back by the impact with enough force to slam clear through the weakened stone wall. The rock and gravel exploded, shattering like glass from the impact and leaving a gaping hole.

Naruto watched the hole for a while, waiting until the last clank of fallen debris hit the ground and water before turning back to Aayla and come down to a knee, hand reaching out to take her by the shoulder and shake her gently, "Aayla."

She looked up at him, but not with fear or anger, which relieved him greatly. It was with a little pain, yes, but also with a great sadness.

"I saw," she almost chocked on her words, "I saw his mind, I saw his thoughts. He isn't evil, Naruto…he's just angry and alone, a prisoner for his whole life."

"I know," Naruto replied, well aware that the Kyuubi was listening. He could feel that it was listening within his very soul, but there was no other emotion, and that was rare.

"I saw his life," Aayla muttered, shaking her head to dispel his tears, "I saw your mother and your father, I saw that fight. I know now that your father didn't have a choice to do what he did…but it still seems so cruel."

Naruto kissed her on the forehead, "I know, Aayla. Thank you for accepting this."

Aayla managed a smile, "Everyone has secrets, and I know you. You are not that man. He's like your complete opposite."

"Two sides of the same coin," Naruto replied with a tired sigh, "I could become him."

"Not while I'm here," she replied, pressing her forehead against his. Just doing this one little thing reaffirmed her belief that this was Naruto, not the person he had just thrown through a wall. This was herNaruto, and while she was here she would make sure it stayed that way.

It was then that he said it, three simple words, "I love you."

That surprised her. She looked up at him, eyes wide in disbelief at what he had just said. He didn't seem to notice, head turning back towards the hole in the wall and frowning, "He has been quiet for far too long."

Aayla blinked, shaking her head to dispel her thoughts before looking back at the hole, absently allowing Naruto to take her hand and pull her to her feet, "Maybe that last shot was enough."

Naruto sighed and shook his head, "No, if it were that easy I would have beaten him years ago."

She nodded, and was about to move, but a hand grabbed her arm, making her stop and look over at her beloved who simply shook his head, "You stay here, where you'll be safe. I'll go have a look."

Under normal circumstances she would have called him over-protective, but these were not normal circumstances, so she nodded her head and let him walk by her. Naruto continued to walk, placing a hand on the rough surface of the half-destroyed rock before taking a step through to the darkness beyond. There was nothing, not even the slightest movement in the light. The more he searched the more alert he became.

Naruto slowly, carefully, walked into the darkness, eyes imbued with chakra snapping left and right as he searched for his other half. It happened so quickly. First there was a flash of light. Then he was imprisoned inside a dome of translucent energy. Naruto jumped back into the centre, eyes widened in surprise before he looked around, remembering the mass of glowing seals on the floor.

"These are-"

"Good to see you remember, brother," his dark half laughed, clapping his hands as he stepped into the illumination of the glowing runes, clapping his hands with enough pause to allow the echo to reverberate throughout the darkened chamber, "This was the exact same seal Madara trapped you in before you were transported to this place; though this time the explosive seals haven't been added in."

"How do you know this?" Naruto asked in rising alarm, "It was one of the most difficult seals I had ever seen."

"I am you and you are me, and I have been bored in this place for over nine months," his other half replied with a snarl, then a smirk, "Nine months of boredom can lead to a person beginning interesting projects to at least remain partially sane. I'll admit it took me quite a few months to read through your memories of the seal, memorise them, fill in the blanks then experiment…but I eventually got there. I do have your tenacity and determination, brother. The only difference is our outlook on the world."

Naruto didn't answer, but the glare he shot Yami could probably melt steel.

"Now if you'll excuse me I think I'll start entertaining our guest," Yami finished with a smile full of venom as he turned and walked towards the exit, "I cannot wait to hear her scream."

His eyes widened in alarm, exactly the response Yami had wanted, before they narrowed into a look of pure, unadulterated anger, "You hurt her and I will end you!"

Yami turned to him and grinned, "Love can mean different things, brother, and not all of them are healthy for the partner. You love her and wish to protect her. I love her…and wish for nothing more than to destroy her with my own two hands."

"No," the words left his lips as a whisper, shocked and suddenly very afraid before he slammed his fist against his invisible prison, simply watching as his fist connected, feeling the pain, but was rewarded with a ripple as the imprisonment seal absorbed the impact. He slammed his other fist against the barrier, feeling the same effect but unwilling to give up. As he fought with all his might to break from his invisible prison he started shouting, screaming.

"Run, Aayla! Run!"

* * *

Aayla heard Naruto's voice, and felt fear course through her veins. Fear not for herself, but for the man she considered her beloved. She knew that the man who stepped through that hole was not the Naruto she knew, and with a quick movement honed by years of training she leaped back, grabbing her lightsaber hilt in midair and igniting it just as she hit the ground, skidding to a halt, the sapphire light of her blade humming in the light as she fell into a basic stance.

The darkness of her beloved smirked, "You know I am not the man you know?"

She nodded.

"You are quite a woman to be able to see past the appearance," Yami applauded lowly, before pulling out a scroll, biting off the seal and allowing it to unroll around him. There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared there was a huge sword stabbed into the ground in front of him, easily as large as he was tall, looking like a butchers knife with a circular hole in the top half of the blade and a half circular hole along the serrated edge near the hilt. Yami grabbed the long hilt and effortlessly pulled it from the stone tiled floor, resting it on his shoulders as he looked at her and smirked. "This sword is known in the Shinobi world as Kubikiribōchō, also known as the butcher's knife. No matter how many times it is damaged it can be repaired by the iron within the blood of the enemies it kills."

He flew at her in a blur, and Aayla was just able to bring up her lightsaber to block the huge blade. The pure weight of both the weapon and Yami was enough to force her back, skidding across the floor because she refused to be thrown from her feet. She watched as her lightsaber slowly cut through the blade, but was also aware that the serrated edge was moving closer to her skin. She couldn't move because of the weight, so she kicked Yami in the shin, watching him flinch before she darted away. She didn't get away without injury, for the blade managed to graze the skin of her left arm. She flinched before watching with horror as her spilled blood seemed to move as if it had a life of its own, tracing it's way along the cut of the blade, seemingly repairing it.

"You're movements are pretty good," Yami said with a smirk, "And you're technique isn't bad either, I love a woman who isn't afraid to use something as unconventional as a kick to the shin in order to get herself out of a bad situation."

He was toying with her; Aayla could see that as clearly as day. If he was as strong as Naruto then he could kill her with a single shot, but he wasn't. He was truly the opposite of the Naruto she knew, Naruto usually abhorred the idea of killing while this one seemed to revel in the kill. Yet another difference in the growing list of differences between this opposite and her Naruto.

"Still willing to fight, I see," Yami grinned sinisterly before sprinting right towards her, striking at her with long, wide swings from his huge sword. Aayla knew that she wouldn't be able to block such strikes, so instead she opted to use her speed to her advantage, using her bodies dexterity to duck, jump and sidestep most of the strikes. It didn't take her long to notice that the wide swings left him wide open to an attack.

She waited until he attempted a wide swing, ducked the blade and surged forward, lightsaber ready to ignite. He saw it coming, and she cursed herself when he simply dropped the huge sword and sidestepped her thrust just as she ignited her weapon. The blade burned through thin air as he spun around behind her, grabbing her wrist roughly and twisting it behind her back, forcing Aayla to drop her weapon as he slammed her against the broken tiled floor.

"Nice try, blue girl," he whispered into her ear, tracing a finger delicately along the spine of her back and smirking when he felt her shiver from the contact, "You've got some moves on you, I'll give you that. Nice reflexes too, I can see why he likes you."

Aayla looked into his eyes, not flinching for a moment as she starred into those blood red orbs. She was prepared for whatever he threw at her, but not for what he actually did. He winked at her with his right eye, before removing his weight from her. Aayla was so surprised by what he was doing that she was unable to move even when he grabbed her by her right wrist and pulled her to her feet.

Naruto's dark half turned his back to her, walked a few steps and then raised his hand, snapping his fingers. The snap reverberated through the chamber. A table and chairs seemed to flash into existence, and on the table were two cups of some sort of food: noodles, she saw, with meat and vegetables she was unfamiliar with.

Yami sat on the farthest chair, smirking over at her shocked form before speaking, "So, how was I?"

It took Aayla a moment to respond, "I'm sorry?"

His smirk grew into a grin which almost mirrored Naruto, "Did I come off as the true big evil persona? I'm just curious…"

Aayla could only stare at him, disbelieving to what she was hearing. This was a trick. It had to be a trick.

Yami's grin softened into a small smile at her silence, "I'll take your silence as a yes."

"What?" Aayla began, before forcing herself to swallow a lump in her throat. She found herself unable to speak, unable to believe what she was seeing. This dark half of Naruto, who had been nothing but the true personification of evil and corruption, had just released her when he could have killed her, snapped a table and chairs into existence, and asked her if he pulled it off like he was an actor trying to get to grips with a part.

"Tell me," Yami's voice was conversational as he picked up a pair of wooden sticks, "Have you ever tried Ramen before?"

Aayla was hesitant, but eventually shook her head dumbly.

"Then you're in for a treat," Yami replied as he positioned the two sticks in his fingers before stabbing them into the bowl of steaming noodles and broth. "It'll probably take him a while to get out of the seal and I'm sure you're probably hungry, so dig in."

She didn't move, and Yami sighed after a moment of tense silence, "Look, lady: if I wanted to hurt you I could have done that and more by now. Just let it sink into your skull that maybe all is not what it seems."

"But…" Aayla managed, before mustering her courage and taking a tentative step forward, "…but…well…what the hell is going on!"

Yami grinned as he slurped up a mass of noodles and broth, "It took you a little longer to ask that question than I thought it would."

"Don't change the subject," Aayla spat back sharply, "Barely a minute ago you were the reincarnation of the bloody dark side, and now you suddenly do a one-eighty and make all of this appear and offer me a late dinner? What the hell is going on!"

"You are a feisty one," Yami chuckled before looking into her eyes, "Allow me to explain."

"Please…" Aayla replied curtly, folding her arms across her chest and fixing him with a glare, "…do."

"You are so sexy when you're angry," Yami grinned, but seeing that his jibe wasn't getting the response he wanted the other half of Naruto sighed, placing his chopsticks beside his bowl and slammed his hands together, "Thanks for the meal."

"What. Is. Going. On!" Aayla said with little patience.

"A test," Yami replied, rising from his place and circling around the table. Aayla found her confidence fading, but she stood her guard against him regardless, "My brother has had doubts for many years…about everything that has happened to him since the fall of our village. He has been weak and indecisive since that time, and through that I came back into being. The incident with Celeste Morne and the talisman brought me back to full strength."

"Then what is your purpose?" Aayla asked. They were barely half a meter from each other now, another step would bring them nose to nose, "Why do you linger here?"

"I linger here to return this mind to what it once was," Yami replied, unblinking, with determination she had not seen, "I want to return this mind to what it was after the events that transpired at the waterfall of truth."

"But…" Aayla began, regaining her resolve with each moment, "…but he defeated you at the waterfall of truth."

"No, he didn't. It's not that simple," Yami replied, looking straight into her eyes with a great fire brewing in his own, "You and your Order are so naïve, girl. You cannot destroy the darkness; you must learn to control it, to harness it, to embrace it and not allow it to corrupt you. I did not die at the waterfall. I was simply absorbed by my brother. We melded; we became one, and through our combined strength we were able to subdue Kurama, take his power for our own and it was our combined hope in swaying him to our cause, to remove all the hate within him."

"Kurama?" Aayla asked.

"That is the real name of the Kyuubi no Yoko," Yami answered, "That is his true name."

"His true name…" Aayla replied dumbly, looking over to the cage.

_**"You have a big mouth, Yami,"**_Kurama's voice reverberated through the chamber, this time lacking the hatred Aayla remembered when he glared right at her, _**"Just like that fool of a monkey Son Goku."**_

"Maybe I do, my old friend," Yami replied, gently pushing Aayla aside as he took a few steps towards the cage, "But…it is your wish as well as mine, isn't it? To bring the Naruto you had forged a bargain with back to this world?"

Kurama did not reply. He simply snorted, and seemed to return to his rest.

Yami snorted in reply, "Cheap old fart."

"Then your purpose here was not to take his body for your own," Aayla murmured.

"That's right," Yami replied with a grin. "My purpose was to return him back to what he once was before the destruction of Konoha, to make him into the man who could shape the future of a continent. I want to return my brother to who he should be."

"Then why did you do what you did?" Aayla asked.

"To test him," Yami replied, "I want my brother to be able to meld with me and remain the stronger personality. Of the two of us, he has always been the strongest; the one most able to change the fate of those around him. I want it to be him who goes out into this broad universe, not me."

Before Aayla could even begin to reply there was an explosion which shattered the wall separating them and the other Naruto. The dust hadn't even settled before he walked through it, moving towards them with long steps full of purpose. His eyes were not fixed on her, though she felt through their bond that he was relieved at her safety. His attention was completely focused on his alternate personality.

Yami smirked, "I hope you heard all of that, brother."

"We need to have a chat, you and I."

Laughter reverberated through the halls, and the two of them were gone in a flash of motion. The last thing Aayla heard was Yami's voice.

"Finally!"

* * *

They both appeared in the centre of a sweeping meadow of green fields and fluttering grass, a soft wind flowed through the area and a tall oak tree stood at the top of the rolling hill. Yami was given only a moment to marvel at the peace and tranquillity before him before he received a fist straight to his exposed face.

"You are an asshole!" Naruto shouted, following up on his punch with a knee to the midsection and then by another punch to his dark half's face.

Yami laughed before bringing up his hand, diverting an open handed strike to his face and diverting it to the side before countering with his other hand, slamming it into his light half's solar plexus with enough force to make him gag, "Don't blame me brother, I left you clues!"

"What clues?" Naruto shouted in anger, sidestepping a high jump kick and countering by grabbing the outstretched lag and slamming him to the ground with a reverse toss, "Besides making me believe you would destroy everything I held dear, everything which brought me back from the aby-"

His rant was stopped by an open-palmed hand, slapping him across his right cheek and making him stagger ever so slightly, giving Yami enough time to jump back to his feet and renew his attack, "Stop being so negative, my brother. That is supposed to be my job!"

An open-palmed hand slammed into Yami's solar plexus, almost collapsing his windpipe and allowing Naruto the opening he needed to regain the upper hand. He grabbed Yami by the shoulders and slammed him into the earth with a Judo toss, placing his weight on top of him and following up with a punch to his face.

Yami countered quickly, wrapping his legs around Naruto's diaphragm and using the momentum of a missed punch to roll them over so that he was once again in the better position. He slammed his palm into the side of Naruto's neck in a Judo chop, immobilising him for that one important moment he needed to flip them over.

"Did you really believe I wanted you to destroy what was bringing you back from the abyss?" Yami asked, dodging a fist thrown at him and grabbing it used both the momentum and the weight of his own form to morph their positions into an arm lock. "We fought, my brother, back in the waterfall of truth, and what happened there, what important event happened there?"

"I thought I defeated you!" Naruto shot back.

"You did," Yami shot back, "you defeated me, and you also defeated Kurama. You gained the power of Kurama and me. Do you remember what you succeeded in doing my brother, during the middle of that war!"

Naruto did not answer, for he honestly could not remember.

"You gained his trust, my brother," Yami roared, watching as Naruto continued to struggle in vein, "he had been imprisoned for most of his life, if not by the eyes of Madara Uchiha then through the body of an Uzumaki, first the wife of the first Hokage, then our mother, then you. Don't you remember!"

Naruto suddenly went limp, mind flowing through his memories of the war, every moment, every second, every battle and every revelation. He remembered standing before the form of the four-tailed monkey, convincing him that he would help…Son Goku, yes that was his name. He remembered freeing him from the chains, receiving his unconscious Jinchūriki, being granted the power of the Kyuubi and freeing the others, off defeating Madara at his strongest.

He had moved with an iron will, promising each beast their freedom and being given their former Jinchūriki in return. He remembered then. The Jinchūriki had not died in that war, through their beasts they had survived, and because of him he had freed the tailed beasts with the promise that they would not wreak havoc again. The Kyuubi, Kurama, had decided to stay with him and aid him on his own quest to become Hokage.

Then Madara came with a resurrected Akatsuki. Naruto lost everything, and in his pain and sorrow he forgot about his oath and his friendship with Kurama. He had reverted back to what had happened before the waterfall of truth, once again thinking of his tenant as a bloodthirsty prisoner instead of the ally he had come to trust and rely on. He saw the pain and betrayal in those red eyes and felt his own heart tug painfully in his chest.

"You forgot everything, my brother," Yami said as he rolled off Naruto and stood up, looking down upon his other half, "you seemed to forget about the waterfall of truth, your battle with me and your alliance with Kurama. You become nothing more than a behemoth of destruction and revenge."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"But I did," Yami replied as he sat cross-legged before his alter ego, "I told you time and time and time again. These exact same words; do you know what those words were…my brother?"

It took Naruto a moment, a long moment to remember what Yami meant, but when he did he snorted and chuckled, "You are me and I am you."

"Exactly," Yami replied with a sparkle in his blood red eyes.

Naruto shook his head, looking down at his hands, "What a fool I am, not to see that simple warning."

"What is your decision, my brother?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto replied, holding out a hand, all of his memories, all of his will believing in what he was hearing. "Let's start again, Yami."

"About…bloody…time!" Yami laughed as he shook hands with his alter ego. The light that followed blinded everything, but when it ended, there was only one Naruto standing on the rolling hill. When his eyes opened, they were neither the eyes of Yami nor Naruto. They were eyes that knew what they wanted and were willing to do everything in their power to attain it, "It's time to begin again."

He vanished in a flash, reappearing in the chamber where Kurama and Aayla were left behind. He flashed Aayla a small smile, "I'm back."

"It's you, isn't it?" she asked a little worriedly.

"It is," Naruto began, before shaking his head in a mixture of bemusement and amusement, "But then it isn't."

At her worried look his smiled widened ever so slightly, "The two of you merged?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel?"

"Pretty good," Naruto replied, cracking his neck, "Don't worry. I'm not any different than the man you remember. I just sorted a few things out is all, okay?"

Aayla managed a sigh, "You're going to have to explain this to me."

"Sure thing…" Naruto answered before looking past her towards the cage, "…but first, there's something I need to take care of."

Aayla nodded in understanding, "Do you want me to go?"

"Yes," Naruto replied as he walked to her side, placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you for being here. Just your presence gave me the strength to face this."

She smiled and nodded, "You can send me back then. I have a feeling that I won't be much help in this conversation."

"Thank you," He replied before releasing her connection with his mind, Aayla vanished in a flash of light, returning to the real dimension, leaving Naruto alone with the creature he needed to speak to, "Kurama?"

No answer.

"Come on, you stupid fox. I know you can hear me!"

In response Kurama turned, ever so slowly, just enough so that his glowing red eyes could be seen beyond the darkened gloom which hid all but his silhouette. The fox studied him for a moment, eyes widened slightly, then returned to their normal size, _**"It's good to see you back, Naruto."**_

Naruto nodded, "I apologise for my actions of late. There is much to discuss."

_**"Indeed there is, you little runt."**_

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **That is not the full ending to the one shot I had planned. The rest will be posted in the one-shot, which will put all of this up with an addition of the epilogue then we'll be getting back to the proper story. I hope you all liked my little version of Naruto having a rematch with his dark half. I actually had something bigger and grander planned, involving people from Naruto's past returning as internal guardians, but I sort of got hit with a block near the end and decided to scrap the idea for something a little less Bleach, and I honestly like this way better, but who knows I might post it separately if anyone wants to read it for a laugh. _

_I got quite a few people unsure with the last chapter, and their thoughts were quite valid to me because I kind of had that same worry myself. A few others expressed concern that running with a chapter to end the training then having these two chapters after it was kind of annoying. I apologise for that, however I felt that this duo of chapters were too important for the plot for me to just not post them, that and when I finally made the decision I had already uploaded that particular chapter, so if I had the chance to do it differently, then yeah, I would have put these two up first and then upload the other one; blame myself for that one but I don't think it destroys the pacing too much, now if I pulled something like the Bleach anime and went to a completely different story in the middle of an epic cliffhanger... that would destroy the pace. _


	27. Emergence

_**Chapter 24**_

_**Emergence**_

_**Latest Holonet News**_

_**The First Empire Day!**_

_It has been one year since our glorious Emperor Palpatine restored order by reforming our stagnant, corrupt Republic into the grand vision it has become. To mark this historic first anniversary of the Galactic Empire, as well as the anniversary marking our triumphant victory against both the barbaric Separatists and the tyrannical Jedi Order, the Imperial Senate has agreed, in a landslide vote, to rename the day of its inception "Empire Day"._

_An official holiday in honor of these events has been announced, with celebrations taking place in every central world of the Empire from the Core Worlds all the way to the Outer-Rim. The celebration was highlighted on Coruscant with flyovers by the Imperial Fleet, as well as parade marches by the Imperial Army, with the Emperor himself in attendance to oversee the festivities._

_The festival was officially commenced when the Emperor himself stepped forward to speak to the people, expressing in a humble moment of gratitude that if it wasn't for them, the Empire's citizens, and their steadfast belief in him, that there would be no Empire, and no stability or safety in the galaxy. He spoke of how, without the people, the Separatists and the Jedi would still be pulling the strings behind the scenes, not for the greater good of the galaxy, but for their own greedy ends._

"_If it wasn't for you, and your belief that there was a better way, then none of this would have been possible. I thank you, all of you, for your support and belief in me through both our victories, and our trials. The Separatists, though they remain, are a spent force, and the Jedi are now so few in number and so spread out that they no longer pose a threat to us. For all of this, I thank you."_

_Celebrations of the first Empire Day are scheduled to continue for one full week across the length and breadth of the galaxy, and early statistics show that the amount of loyal citizens taking part will be well within the trillions, from the major celebrations in the Core, all the way to the worlds of the Outer-Rim and beyond. It was our beloved Emperor who said it best amid thunderous applause._

"_With the support of the people, and the guidance of this government, the Galactic Empire will flourish, strong and steadfast, against any and all threats for a thousand years. We must show our worth, our strength, our unity and our determination. If we do this, then this vision will become a reality!"_

* * *

Screams echoed down the length and breadth of the hallway, resonating with such pain and anguish that it would bring a chill to the blood of anyone who heard them. Alongside the screams, acting as an undertone symphony, came other, more bone chilling sounds: the static of electricity, coupled with the hissing of machinery made for the singular purpose of bringing agonizing pain upon a sentient being.

The torture chamber was a small, spherical room, with masses of blades and machines laid out like war trophies along the walls. Fresh blood covered the gunmetal coloured walls, and a stairwell led up to a closed transparisteel door. Glowing white lights, mounted onto the ceiling of exposed piping and wiring, harshly illuminated the chamber…and the mass of torture devices which lay within.

In the centre of the chamber, being held up by nothing more than his restraints, was a single Jedi Padawan, in his late teens to early adult years, human. The young man's name was Dama Montalvo, and for the last hour he had been subjected to the brutal mechanisms of Darth Vader. His face could barely even be recognised as human, covered in blood and grime, nose broken, face swollen to the point where he could barely even see, his skin was a pot mark of black and purple bruises and broken teeth.

Vader grabbed the young man's neck, patience all but spent. He had subjected this man to days of excruciating pain and torture so that he would answer one question, a single question which had been gnawing at him with as much force as the aches which gnawed at the intersection between flesh and cybernetics. His master's attention may be on this blond haired figure, but his was on another target entirely.

He asked the question again, for the last time, "Where is Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

The young man spat out a glob of blood. The Jedi Padawan managed a smile. "If I knew... I would never tell."

Vader roared in anger, and with the slightest exertion snapped the Padawan's neck with a thunderous crack, ending his life. The Dark Lord turned away, looking down at his cybernetic arm, taken from him on the barren, magma ridden landscape of Mustafar by a man who was his former brother, and former teacher.

A voice, grandfatherly and full of disappointment, resounded through the torture chamber, "Less than well done, Lord Vader. Dead, the boy can tell us nothing."

Darth Vader looked up in time to see his master descend the steps towards the floor, dressed in his black robes, hood down to reveal just how much damage the burns of deflected force lightning had done to his visage. Where once the features held the look of an understanding and grandfatherly Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, now they were burned away, leaving pallid white skin marred by wrinkles and healing burns.

"I apologise, my master."

"You continue to chase after your former master, my son," the old Sith shook his head, gesturing for his apprentice to follow as he ascended the steps, stepping out into the long corridor of the still under construction Imperial palace. Vader hesitated for but a moment before he followed, shadowing his masters movements, "but it is a fool's errand."

Vader remained silent as his master paused, then continued.

"Forget your grievance with Kenobi my young apprentice, and stop this continuing hunt of the Jedi. They are now so few in number that they are no longer a threat to our regime. They are now an endangered species, and will continue to be hunted down until their final extinction. It is inevitable, for I have foreseen it."

"Yes, my master," Vader replied, following his master out of the corridor and onto a balcony, looking down upon the near-endless stream of life on Coruscant: endless streams of hover-cars as well as masses of people going about their daily business far below, uncaring for the change in government or for who know ruled them. They trusted in his master's words of a thousand years of peace and prosperity…the fools. All of them were fools.

"There are other, more important matters to consider, my apprentice," Palpatine added, looking over at Vader with sickly golden eyes, "I gave you another, more pressing task than to hunt Jedi. Your new primary mission is to find this second survivor, this man with blond hair who defeated you so utterly those many months ago, and bring him to Coruscant. With the capture of both of these _Shinobi,_our victory over all of our enemies past, present and future will be assured."

He had gotten more and more obsessed with the potential of these two over the last few months, so much so that he had forgotten just how dangerous the Jedi can be, "Master, there are only two of them. They are the last of their order. The Jedi, while weakened, still pose the greatest threat."

"How naive, my young apprentice," Sidious replied with a voice of pure, unbreakable steel, "Tell me, what do you think of his people, his culture? Do you believe them to simply be a young band that discovered their powers by chance and destroyed themselves because they did not have the proper... finesse?"

Vader did not reply. He simply waited for his master to make his feelings known.

"I have seen into this boy's mind, Lord Vader," the elder Sith Lord continued after a moment, "and I can tell you that he and his fellows are not to be underestimated. The power, the knowledge and the abilities they carry are beyond almost anything we have ever seen before. Every time I dive into his mind the more I am convinced that his order was the first."

"The first, my master?" Vader asked.

"Yes, Lord Vader, the first," Sidious replied, "I have studied his mind, and with each moment I continue to search, the more sure I become. His order's code, their practises, their sayings, their very philosophy is like a melding of every well-known warrior culture in the galaxy. I see sayings of ancient Mandalorian, practises used by the first Guardians of Kiffu, techniques used by the Guilds of Anzati assassins. This is far more than mere coincidence, my friend. We may have stumbled upon a survivor of an order who may have inspired every humanoid warrior culture from the Galactic Core to the Outer Rim."

That got Vader's attention; an order who may have had influence on every major war bound culture in the galaxy was definitely not one to underestimate, "You are sure of this, my master?"

Sidious turned to give his apprentice a withering glare, "I am sure, my young apprentice. Now, you will stop this fruitless quest of vengeance, and complete the mission I have given you: find this second man, capture him, and bring him to me. The Jedi are a dead order on life support, and I consider them to be little more than a hindrance compared to the potential danger of these _Shinobi_."

Vader bowed his head, "Yes, my master."

Sidious spun on his heel, and stalked from the balcony, black robes flailing behind him. Vader watched him for a moment, before turning to bring his attention to the world around him which was the centre of the known galaxy.

A clone with Commander-rank trimmings on his armour entered the balcony several minutes after his master had left, carrying a datapad in his hand. Vader idly considered tossing him from the balcony to the planet's surface some five hundred meters below, but thought better of it.

"Report, Commander," ordered the hulking Sith Lord.

The clone saluted, "Yes sir. We've been able to gain information of a possible conclave of Jedi Masters on Kessel. I believe one of the names may interest you."

Vader turned, taking the datapad from the Commander and skimming through the names. There were about eight or nine names on the list, a few of whom were well known and respected Jedi Masters within the now shattered order, but of all of those names only one stood out, third from the bottom and seemingly written with bold letters compared to the others.

Obi-wan Kenobi

* * *

She loved this. The high air may be thinner, but it was also crisper and brought with it a cold sting in her throat which she once hated, but now welcomed. She loved being up this high, seeing the grand landscape stretch out below her, from her perch atop a tall pine tree to the edge of the forest far below, to the valley of rolling hills and grass. The once-marring sight of a Star Destroyer crashed in the centre of the valley was now nearly overtaken by vines and grass as nature set its sights on reclaiming it for their own.

Ahsoka Tano took a deep breath before releasing it, watching as the mist of air rose from her mouth towards the atmosphere high above. She was dressed in a similar garb to her new teacher, finding it both more practical and more appealing than her old clothes. Her new clothes made up of a pair of black fatigues, with a charcoal-coloured armoured, sleeveless flak jacket worn over and a pair of black boots. Compared to her old choice, it was more conservative, but it got cold on this planet and the young Togruta admitted that these, what her new teacher called, Shinobi garments, were still awesome.

"Ahsoka!" The young girl looked down, smile gracing her lips when she saw the sight of one of her best friends calling and waving at her from the base of the tree she was perched upon, "It's time!"

Six months had passed already? Ahsoka almost couldn't believe it, but the more she thought about it the more she realised that six months had gone by.

The training Naruto had put the three of them through was harsh, and it did just as he promised, pushing their resolve, as well as their physical and mental limits being breached time and time again. Ahsoka had thought that by now she knew what harsh training was, but being put through this style of training had shattered that belief. He didn't even pull his punches with Aayla, and that said something about how serious he was about this.

Ahsoka had to admit that the training had changed them all, and for the better. There were times when she cursed Naruto's name, and there were times when she just wanted to give up. But she persevered and reaped the rewards from it. With time, she began to enjoy the training, getting a high every time she succeeded and laughed and ate and drank at night when it seemed like an eternal party.

Party by night, train by day.

At the beginning, she thought it was one of the worst moments of her life, but looking back now she realised that it was the best time of her life. It was exactly what she needed, and now it was coming to an end. Naruto would continue to train them from time to time, but now it was time to re-enter the galaxy and in the words of her own teacher... Go Wild.

Celeste's call awoke her from her thoughts, "Ahsoka, you alive up there!"

"I'm coming," she replied, and hopped off her perch on the tree, hopping from branch to branch with fluent motions before launching herself through the air to the next tree, landing on it perfectly before spinning on her heel to turn and call to her friend, "Race you to the bottom!"

Celeste was dressed in a similar garb to her own, the sign that the two of them had ascended in the ranks of Shinobi training from simple apprentices to full-blown, battle-ready warriors; in her case it was a pair of faded green fatigues, a leaf-green sleeveless flak jacket, and on her feet was a pair of knee-high black boots. Like her, an assortment of kunai, shuriken, steel-wire and other weapons were sheathed in her vest, as well as on her utility belt alongside a blaster pistol and a lightsaber. All three of them had the same setup in weaponry.

The older woman grinned at her, and rushed down the steep slope, three to four steps before she leaped through the air and landed on the adjacent branch on the tree across from Ahsoka's own, "You're on!"

The two of them raced, jumping from branch to branch, hitting the ground and sprinting across the rocky outcrops before making leaping jumps back up to the canopy to continue their race. The two of them had been doing this for the better part of three months, and at the moment the tally sheet was in her friend's favour, thirty-three victories to thirty-two defeats. Ahsoka wanted more than anything to beat her here and even out the score.

The two of them were now neck in neck, jumping down from the tree tops to race across the rocky outcroppings surrounding a racing river of mashing waves and foam. There was a cliff face ahead, and a large waterfall that crashed down nearly a hundred meters to a basin below. The two didn't even hesitate. They rushed to the edge and jumped with cries of jubilation and adrenaline as they dived the hundred meters, bodies levelled out to minimise impact as they dived into the choppy water, swam like they belonged there and exploded in augmented leaping jumps to the shore.

The two of them had trained to the point where they were unsure if they were using the force or their chakra when they were on these adrenaline-rushing races. Both were now second nature to them. They didn't break their strides as they continued on, running across the ground for a few moments before jumping back up to the branches above to continue their race. Sweat glistened from their brows, but neither slowed their pace.

They were having too much fun for that.

They reached a large body of water, the result of one of many smaller streams which forked out from the main river. Ahsoka could remember many a time when she and Rex would fish in this exact alcove, gained many a good catch too. It was also a favourite meditating place for the third member of their gang.

"Aayla!"

Speak of the devil.

Their sister was meditating in the centre of the pool, using both the force and her own chakra in unison to keep her a foot above the calm water. She sat there with her eyes closed, body relaxed and legs crossed in a basic meditation stance. Each of the three of them excelled in their own fields, but Aayla was taking her control a step higher than the rest of them, using the last month to experiment in ways to merge both the force and chakra, to use them together in correlation and harmony.

Her style of dress was almost the same as Celeste, with her faded green fatigues and healthy leaf-green Chūnin vest, but instead of wearing boots like her two fellow Jedi she wore a pair of black Shinobi sandals, almost exactly like the ones Naruto had taken to wearing. It was also obvious by the way that her clothes clung to her, that her choice of garb was a size too small for her at least, but it seemed to look right on her all the same.

Her eyes fluttered open, and with a turn of her head, she looked over at them with a serene smile. It was a strange thing. It seemed as their training progressed both Aayla and Celeste seemed to get more beautiful, they were positively glowing now at the end of the training period, but Ahsoka doubted she looked the same. She would eventually realise that she had the same healthy glow as her two sisters, and that she was also growing in more ways than one.

"I know," Aayla called from her sitting position, "Our time here is almost over!"

"Care for a race?" Ahsoka called with a cheeky smile.

Aayla shook her head with a bemused smile, "I'll travel down the mountain like any normal person, besides if I joined now then I would probably win!"

"Good point," Celeste breathed. The two of them looked like they had stopped more to catch their breath than to talk to her, "We'll see you at the bottom then."

Aayla raised her hand in a wave, "Have fun, and let me know who wins."

"You got it!" Ahsoka called back, and the two of them were off again, racing each other through the tree tops as they rushed down the tree-covered mountain base towards the valley beyond. The wrecked remains of the _Intervention_ were their final destination, and the _Will of Fire_which was hidden under its impressive tattered hull.

Aayla shook her head at the antics of the duo before looking down at the calm water between her crossed legs for a long moment, "You heard them, I take it?"

A head escaped from the water's cold embrace, golden locks and expressive yet slightly mischievous blue eyes caught her chocolate brown as his head surfaced between her crossed legs. Aayla frowned at him, embarrassment made known by the slight curl of her lekku and the darkening of her cheeks.

"I heard them," Naruto replied with a smile before he added with a cheeky grin, "I like looking up at you from this angle."

Aayla pouted down at him before putting her hand on top of his head and with a sudden thrust sent him back into the water. She jumped to her feet, pumping just the right amount of chakra into her soles to keep her on the water's surface before jumping back. Not a moment too soon either as Naruto exploded from the water, body rising three meters into the air before gravity brought him back down. Her mate and teacher landed in a crouch, skidding across the water's surface for a scant moment, making crevices in the once still surface which rippled across the pool, before coming to a stop and looking back at her with a mock-hurt expression.

"That wasn't very nice."

Aayla stuck her tongue out cheekily at him before breaking out in a laugh. Six months after she had decided to break the rules and be with him and she was still finding what she was doing so strange and uncharted, "Race you to the bottom!"

"You're on, my lady!"

The two of them rushed through the forest in their own race, but the race was different from the one Celeste and Ahsoka went on. This was considered simpler in regard, or not, it depended on ones point of view. Aayla would run, and Naruto would try to catch her before she reached the ripped apart remains of the _Intervention._At the moment, it was standing with Naruto at the lead with eleven, and Aayla trailing behind at eight.

Aayla ran down the mountainside, fluently and gracefully passing by tree trunk after tree trunk, smiling as she felt through the force her mate easily keeping up with her. She wasn't surprised. The only times she won was when she put her whole being into it, using the terrain, using the trees, the water, the rocks and her newfound powers to keep her hidden as she moved.

This time she wasn't doing any of that. This time she wanted him to catch her.

He caught her just as she was nearing the end of the tree line, diving through the air and putting his arms around her in an embrace. Aayla laughed as the two of them tumbled across the rolling slope, putting her full faith in her beloved to keep her safe from any protruding outcrop of rock or any trunk of a tree. The two of them rolled for a moment before coming to a stop at the base of the hill, at the end of the last line of trees, but just far enough within the foliage to keep them hidden. He had come out better from their little tussle, lying on top of her, face buried into the crook of her neck.

"I love this smell," Naruto murmured into her ear. It made Aayla's lekku curl to hear his musky voice.

"What smell?" she asked, knowing full well what he was talking about.

"Your smell," he replied as he traced kisses from her jaw down her neck. Aayla hummed at the contact, enjoying every moment, "It doesn't matter how much you sweat or how much dirt gets in the way…to me you'll always smell like desert flowers."

"I wish we could stay here longer," Aayla murmured as she kissed his nose.

"Me too," Naruto replied as he hugged her close, resting his head against the crook of her neck and kissing it ever so gently. "But our time's almost up. We'll know when the meeting takes place, and Quinlan has said that he wants both you and Celeste there."

"But we're both Knights, I doubt we'll have much say in our next move."

"You're both Knights," Naruto agreed. "But according to both Vos and Tholme you are a Master in all but name."

"Really?" she asked in surprise.

"Quinlan told me that before he left the Order he was going to recommend you to begin the trials of the Master…" Naruto replied, looking into her eyes, "…and you would make a fine Master. In Shinobi terms, you're already a Jōnin."

"Really?" Aayla asked.

"Absolutely," Naruto replied without a moment of hesitation, "You're as strong now as my first teacher, Kakashi Hatake was when he began the trials. You are ready to be considered a Jōnin-level Shinobi."

"Thank you," she replied, pulling him down into an embrace.

* * *

Eriadu was one of many city-worlds in the Outer Rim. It's surface covered by a mass of urban factories, cities and sprawls. It was considered by many to be one of the closest systems to inherit the title of the 'Coruscant of the Outer Rim' because of its leaders will to make it so and its position at the centre of several important trading routes.

The only problem with this idea was that the planet's government placed this potential gain above everything else, including their world's own environment, and the investment in important technology to keep the planet from becoming a centre of pollution and waste: technology like atmosphere scrubbers, aquifer purifiers and water disposal systems. Living standards within this system were at an all-time low if you did not have the money to life in the wealthier quarters, and the death toll in the slums and poorer sectors were almost unbelievable.

Tsui Choi had been too many such systems, but of them all, Eriadu was considered perhaps one of the absolute worst. He had been stationed here with his small army of clone troopers and officers, a protective shield against the many worlds surrounded by systems such as Sullust, Mayagil and Sluis Van, which had switched allegiances to the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Together, he and those under his command had repelled several invasion attempts on this one of a handful of bastions that had continued to support the Republic.

Now he was considered an enemy of the system, and he was on the run from the very soldiers he had once commanded. Ever since Order 66 had been issued he had survived and hid himself in the underground of this vast, dirty, corrupt city-world, using every trick in his many years of life to outmanoeuvre and outsmart his assailants.

It wasn't so easy this time though. This time he was being hunted by the very clone out of his former army who knew him best, who knew exactly where he would go to ground and was willing to make the tough and inhumane choices to smoke him out. How many people had died who were under nothing more than the most minor of suspicions of helping him? It truly broke his heart to think of the number of innocent people who had died in this system.

"Keep searching," his former second-in-command ordered to his unit of elite troopers, "while Order 66 is still in effect we will continue to do our duty!"

The five-man squad rounded a corner, obviously tailing their quarry thanks to the probe droid he had destroyed just a moment ago. He was able to destroy it before it got far enough to give reconnaissance on the end of the alley. The Clone commander and his loyal foot soldiers had no idea that the alley led to a dead end, and into his trap.

"Back away," the commander ordered when they came to a dead end, "The Jedi cannot have gone far!"

He had no idea that the Jedi was right above him, descending fast, and landing right behind his small column of troopers. The diminutive figure, barely reaching the height of one of the clone's thighs, was as fast as lightning as he struck with precise swings from his azure-bladed weapon, "Maybe we're not so easy to take down when we know who our enemies are!"

His movements were flawless and without equal, a near match to the spinning, almost-floating battle dance of Master Yoda himself. As he moved with surprising speed and agility among the surprised clones he also made sure that they did not know what hit them. He killed each one with quick, precise and deadly movements with the aid of his lightsaber. The last clone to die was his own former second-in-command, ending his life with a perfect decapitating slice from his weapon.

The five clones eliminated, Jedi Master Tsui Choi looked around for a moment before closing down his weapon and clipping it to his utility belt. He looked around, searching for any potential material to scavenge and seeing none which caught his wizened old eyes.

"You certainly haven't lost your finesse, Master Choi."

The old Aleena Jedi Master spun around, un-activated blade of his lightsaber held ready in his clawed hands, only for the weapon to lower at the sight of the woman before him. She was a human, native to Kuat with shoulder length raven black hair, tanned skin, slanted lids and dark eyes. Choi looked at the image of Bultar Swan and smiled for the first time in a long time. The woman before him was perhaps one of the strongest-willed Jedi he had ever met, not to mention one of the most honourable. She kept to her ideals through thick and thin, and so had earned his respect many years ago.

"Bultar Swan," he greeted, truly happy to see another Jedi alive. The first Jedi he had met since Order 66 was given, "I am truly relieved to see you in one piece," he finished as he moved to the woman to embrace her.

Swan returned his embrace, a smile gracing her lips as she pulled away, "And I you, Master Choi."

Tsui Choi lowered his head and shook it, "I have heard the reports…the temple…all of the younglings…I have heard them for some time. I began to think that none of us were left alive."

He said this to her because out of all of the Jedi she was one of the ones he considered a true friend. The two of them had fought together through numerous battles, and had worked together on missions well before the outbreak of war. They had even been friendly to each other outside of mission briefs, shared meals and spoken frankly to each other. She was one Jedi whom he would trust without hesitation.

"There are those of us left alive, Master Choi," Swan replied with a smile, "The Jedi are not dead yet. Our will has not been dissolved. An invitation was sent to me about a conclave of Masters on Kessel. I was about to go, but I do not wish to go alone. You're presence there would undoubtedly be a positive influence."

Choi thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head, "Very well, I will travel with you to Kessel, and see what can be done."

* * *

"So…who won?" Naruto asked as the two of them reached the edge of the ruin which was once a Republic warship. Celeste was sitting on a piece of durasteel debris, looking up at them with a tired but triumphant grin.

"Me, that's who," she replied as she lay back against the stone wall, "the kid put some fight into it, but I beat her by three seconds."

"So you're two ahead?" Aayla asked with a small smile, "She will challenge you the next chance she gets."

"Bring it on, I say," Celeste replied, looking to Ahsoka with a grin of her own.

Naruto laughed at her behaviour before making his way towards the _Will of Fire,_passing through a small ensemble of crosses and memorials, remembering not the dead of the original species of the planet but those of the Republic who died fighting the Separatists for this small rock.

At the front row was a line of crosses remembering the Jedi who died on this field, seven in all. One of them stood out, as it was slightly larger than the rest. The name of Adi Gallia was imprinted on the front of the largest gravestone, former Master serving on the Jedi High Council, considered by all who knew her, including Aayla and Ahsoka, the latter only knowing of her by reputation, to be a righteous and merciful hand. It must have been a silent relief to the two of them that the gravestones on this planet for fallen Jedi had not been desecrated like so many others.

Rex was waiting for them at the base of the freighter's landing ramp, dressed in a simple cream-coloured tunic, brown pants and black boots all smudged with grease and grim. While Naruto trained the three Jedi over the last six months, the former Captain had declined training under Naruto for the time being, opting instead to use his time to familiarise himself with the ship and serving as the team's gopher: making supply runs to the nearest civilised system that was not under close Imperial scrutiny for any additional supplies they needed. He, of course, kept his fitness up with his own training regime, and he did always make himself available for any sparring that the others performed, though after a while, he found himself simply outmatched by the Jedi/Shinobi, including Ahsoka. He would later curse himself for not taking Naruto up on his offer of training them. Though he supposed he could start training with the next "class" that Naruto (and the other three) would train.

"Is it time?" he asked as Naruto approached.

The blond grinned in response, slapping him on the shoulder as he passed by, "You bet it's time."

"Finally," Rex replied with a sigh before turning on his heel and following the unofficial Captain up the ramp, "I was starting to get restless."

"Well now you have the chance to put that armour of yours back on and try out some of your new toys," Naruto replied as he walked down the corridor to the common room, sidestepping just in time to stop a collision as Aayla and Celeste rushed past to man their respective posts on the bridge. He looked at the few tables, covered in smudged white cloth, full of spare parts, "By the Sage, it's messier in here than usual."

"Just finished fine-tuning the ventral and dorsal ball turrets," Rex replied, watching as Naruto created a handful of clones to move the machine parts back into storage. "They're ready, by the way. Reload time will be quicker, range has been doubled, and turns will be more acute."

"Rex, you are a god," Naruto laughed, "Does this basically mean that our ship now has the firepower of a corvette?"

"Indeed it does, chief," Rex replied with a smirk, "and the speed of a fighter while we're at it."

"Fantastic!" Naruto grinned at the thought before bringing his attention back to the present by the sound of his beloved's melodic voice.

"I'm guessing you two are talking about those new toys in the storage hold?" Aayla asked as she entered the room, wandering up to Naruto and greeting him with a kiss on the tip of his nose.

Naruto countered with a quick kiss onto her forehead before laughing, "Ahh, you know us too well, my love."

Aayla, while smiling at Naruto's affectionate address of her, shook her head in bemusement before sending a pleading look Rex's way, "Please don't get him started."

The Captain smirked a little in response, "No promises, Lady Secura."

Naruto smirked at her. Both Aayla and Rex had managed to get over the small barricades they had erected over each other at the beginning of the training. Ever since they had taken the chance to get to know each other, and Aayla had found after time training, eating and living with Rex that maybe she could learn to trust a Clone again to watch her back. There were still a few blocks, mainly Rex's insistence on calling her by honorific's like Lady or Ma'am, though thankfully he had stopped calling her General soon after they landed.

"Did we get that message we were waiting for?" Aayla asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Rex replied with a nod, "It was just an hour ago as I was setting her down. The meeting point will be held on Kashyyyk, in a week's time."

"Kashyyyk isn't far from here; in fact, it's in the neighbouring region," Aayla murmured, "If we leave from here, we could make it there with at least four days to spare."

"I'm afraid we may have to make a detour," Rex spoke up, watching as both Captain and Vice-Captain, still unofficial, of course, turned their attention back to him, "I was able to make contact with the underground as you requested, Lady Secura."

"That's good. So, what's the latest?"

"Well, there is a smaller conclave of Jedi taking place on Kessel, two days from now…" Rex replied, sighing as he scratched the back of his head, "…and the Empire is on to them. There are unconfirmed reports that Darth Vader, himself, is being sent to eliminate them, and that his time of arrival would be just before the meeting is scheduled to take place."

"Well, that isn't good," Naruto murmured as he folded his arms.

"Indeed, it isn't."

"Kessel would be two days from here if we maxed out the hyperdrive," Aayla whispered thoughtfully, "Do we know who will be there?"

"The information on who will be there is sketchy, but it'll be between five and ten Jedi, most likely Masters. The few they were able to confirm as possible attendees include Masters Bultar Swan, Roblio Darte, Tsui Choi and Koffi Arana."

"Important people, I take it?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful frown.

Aayla looked over at him with a small smile, "Haven't you read up on the Order's Masters yet?"

"Me?" Naruto looked a little surprised by her response, "I'm still reading up on the Great Galactic War!"

"How have you only gotten as far as the Great Galactic War? That was three thousand years ago," Rex asked with a bemused smile.

"Revan was awesome," Naruto retorted with a stubborn show of pride. "He was so awesome that I had to reread his life account just so I could make sure he was as awesome as I thought he was."

Rex sighed before turning to the female of the trio, "I thought you were keeping him on track."

"Not my fault," Aayla replied simply, folding her arms under her bust and shaking her head in a mixture of amusement and bemusement, "Every single time he comes across an account of a Jedi who turned Sith then turned back to become a Jedi, he gets hooked. First it was Ulic Qel-Droma, then it was Bastilla Shan, then it was Revan and don't even get me started on the chronicles of Zayne Carrick!"

"I read that one three times," Naruto grinned, "It was an awesome account, full of suspense and loss and tragedy, but with hope and redemption and love. I had to reread it three times to understand everything, and he not only redeemed himself and placed the blame on those who deserved it, but he decided to leave the Order anyway and fell in love with the heroine."

"He talks about it as if it's fiction," Aayla murmured in disbelief, "And then Celeste got in on it and it went completely out of control."

"How so?"

"She was there; she actually knew Carrick and company on a personal level," the Twi'lek replied flatly, "She got really into it after she was imprisoned in that Sith Sarcophagus. I swear, more than once, I heard her shouting things like, 'Kiss her, you bastard!' and, 'I don't remember him being this indecisive!'."

"So…she basically got into it as much as Naruto?"

"I swear there were times when I thought she got into it more than Naruto," Aayla found herself massaging her temple as she spoke, "the moment Carrick kissed that Arkanian Offshoot…Jeseel, I think her name was?…there was a round of applause coming from the cabin. A. Round. Of. Applause!"

"Can someone please explain to me how important these Masters are?" Naruto asked in a deadpan voice.

"They're masters; that should say it all," Rex replied flatly.

"So would we still be going if we found out that they were younglings?"

"Of course, we would!" Aayla replied, sounding a little insulted by the way he said it.

"Then let's go. We can talk about Celeste's and my reading preferences on the way," Naruto threw his hands into the air in silent frustration, spinning on his heel and calling out with all of his might for the other two members of his crew to hear him, "Ahsoka, Celeste, we're taking a detour!"

* * *

_**Author Note 1: **__The first upload was the unbeta'd version, which I mixed up with the uncorrected original and setup. This is the completed version, so sorry about that. Thanks to my reader for pointed it out._

_**Author Note 2: **__To any die-hard Star Wars fans out there I know I'm setting up the Conclave of Kessel a year later than in canon but I feel that these characters will have a positive impact on the story, plus I thought they were cool, and if that doesn't impress you well..._

_**Author Note 3:**__Right, hoped you all enjoyed the update and now unto more unhappy news. This story will be taking a little sojourn of a couple of weeks. I have been having a few changes in my life lately, mainly my new job and the fact that the Christmas holiday is coming up... I'm working on Christmas day... can you BELIEVE THAT! Okay it'll be triple time but still it's CHRISTMAS!_

_Sorry, had to rant there... anyway there's other reason why I'm putting the story on a few weeks holiday, another reason is that I'm in the middle of creating a one-shot dealing with the middle of the six months training session. The story won't be of the training session itself but of something I think you'll all enjoy, one of Naruto confessing to Aayla what he has buried inside him, the fight against his dark half and so on. This will be a one-shot, but it will also have an important impact on the future of the story. I'll let you guess what it is..._


	28. Acts of Defiance

_**Chapter 25**_

_**Acts of Defiance**_

The world below them was considered one of the deadliest "triple max security slams" in the galaxy, one of only a handful, as the number changed from time to time with trends in organized crime. The planet, considered by many to be the home of the drug known throughout the galaxy as glitterstim spice, a valuable commodity used both therapeutically and recreationally through the galaxy. The substance was in constant demand by doctors and physicians, as well as being the main interest in more than one well-known crime lord's illegal activities.

"So this is Kessel," Naruto murmured as he looked down upon the deformed planet below him. At first glance, it didn't seem to be a planet at all, but rather a very large asteroid. It had an atmosphere which, while thin, could sustain sentient life. Apparently Kessel had been different once, a very long time ago, but some great catastrophe happened: whether it was a natural event or a war was unknown to him. All he knew was that the after effect of the event was the barely-inhabitable rock he now saw, which was only kept habitable by an atmosphere that was artificially sustained, as the asteroid's gravitational pull was too weak to hold the air down.

"Yeah…" Ahsoka replied as she looked down at the half-dead world with hard eyes, "…it's a real dive."

"And an extremely dangerous place," Aayla added as she pushed a few more runes on her console before sitting back. She had turned off everything but the most basic systems: even the main lights had been switched off. To all but the most sophisticated sensors, the _Will of Fire_would look like nothing more than a piece of debris floating in the atmosphere…and even then, the operator of said sensors would have to be actively looking for their ship in order to have a chance at picking it up.

Naruto and crew all thought that this was a very good thing…especially considering the infamous dagger-shaped form of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer hanging in orbit at the other side of the planet.

"Do we have a position on our targets?" Naruto asked.

"Affirmative…" Celeste replied, "… Master Vos took painstaking time and effort researching this. We know the time and place where they will be, and it has been confirmed that a total of eight to ten masters will be there."

"And what about our enemies?" Naruto asked, looking at the intimidating figure of the enemy cruiser. Aayla had made sure that they were far enough away so as not to be seen by the warship's sensors, so he wasn't worried that they would be spotted, and even if they were, he had full confidence in both the ship and his girl to get them out of danger.

"They're scanning the surface and deploying ground teams, so I don't think they know our quarry's exact location," Celeste replied as she looked over the schematics. "That'll give us a window of a few minutes. Enough time to warn them to get out of dodge."

"Do _we_know our quarry's exact location?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, hold on a minute," Celeste responded before silently pushing runes on her console. As she finished, there was a flash of light as the holographic equipment burst into life, showing a three-dimensional representation of a section of barren ground, with many pits and holes several meters long scattered across the landscape. As the Jedi Shadow's hands danced along her keyboard, the image magnified as she zoomed in, moving past the rock and showing a look at the interior of the mineshaft.

"So that's the place, huh?" Ahsoka muttered, "How did Master Vos know of it?"

"He was invited, but declined…" Aayla replied as her chair swivelled around, giving her a look at the map, "…he also told the meeting's chair, a Master Shadday Potkin, about the other conclave on Kashyyyk, but she declined to come."

"Why would she decline a meeting with the remnants of the order…but set up another meeting with a handful of masters?" Rex sighed as he folded his arms, "…it makes no sense."

"It makes no sense if she set up the meeting just to discuss…" Naruto growled as he looked over the map, "…but it makes perfect sense if someone wanted to set up an ambush, especially if she wasn't sure that those she invited would join her in such an ambush."

"Luring several Jedi of Master rank to Kessel, knowing that Vader would follow them there…" Aayla murmured this for a moment, deep in thought, before her eyes widened in revelation, "…she wants a shot at Vader!"

"Revenge…" Rex sighed, "…but why so foolishly? Unless she's counting on the possibility that the Dark Lord would underestimate them and go in alone. I know Vader: he will face them, but he will have reinforcements ready…and I'm not talking about the usual cannon fodder, either."

Aayla nodded, "He'll have his back watched by crack shock-troops, at best, veteran clone troopers, but at worst, ARC Commandos."

"If it's the 501st, I'll be betting on the latter…" the former Captain informed, "…Darth Vader has been busy since the official end of the war. He's been selecting the best veterans from across the Grand Army to fill in his personal legion's losses, and believe me, I've seen the lists. We'll be dealing with stone cold killers; veterans who know how to fight but who also know when to run."

"Veterans who know how to fight Jedi…" Ahsoka's eyes burned, "…Jedi killers!"

"Then we have to get them out of there…" Naruto stated with finality as he leaned forward and pointed to the map, "…A good portion of that chamber is open to the surface. There is a lot of heavy machinery in there but…Celeste, can we fit the _Will of Fire_in there?"

The woman looked thoughtful, "Yeah, definitely. There's enough room in that pit for this bird to hover in. It'll be tight, though."

"If we can hover near enough to that ledge, then we could evacuate those masters and fly off before that cruiser even knows we're here!" Ahsoka piped up happily.

"Yeah, but we'd be sitting ducks to ground fire…" Celeste intervened, giving a pouting Ahsoka an apologetic look before continuing, "…we wouldn't be able to use any of the ship's weapons. If we did then we'd collapse that mine shaft at least."

"Don't worry about that…" Rex said with a grin, "…I've got a few tricks up my sleeves."

Celeste frowned at the former Captain, and then smiled in realization, "I thought you were going to save those for a special occasion."

"I believe this qualifies as a special occasion, Lady Morne. Don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"What, what I miss?" Naruto asked.

"I'll show you in a minute."

"Looks like we have a plan, then?" Aayla cut in.

"Looks like it," Celeste replied with a knowing smirk.

"The only problem is who we will send…" Rex said with a frown as he stood beside Naruto. "If I went in they'd probably kill me on sight because of Order 66. There would definitely be a lot of anger in that room should I be sighted. If Ahsoka went in, they probably wouldn't take her seriously because of her rank."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but it's the truth…" Rex apologised to his charge, "…and if either Naruto or Celeste went in they would be considered a possible threat because the Masters don't know them."

"That leaves only one person then…" Naruto replied with a sigh, "…I don't like where this is going."

Aayla sighed as she looked over at them, "You mean me, I take it?"

"I apologise Lady Secura, but they all know you, at least by reputation, and because of your rank they will at least listen to you…" Rex explained, "…I know that some, including Mistress Swan and Master Shoi would listen to a fellow Jedi, but there are some I am not so sure of…and there are a couple others who are known to be chauvinistic to begin with, and a bit full-of-themselves because of their rank."

"In basic terms: people with egos that outmatch their brains…" Naruto finished with a frown before looking over at Aayla, "…I don't like this."

"I know…" Aayla replied, "…but it has to be done. Besides, we've performed a full scan and sensor sweep on the meeting place: we know that half of it is open to the surface. We can use the hole to set the _Will of Fire_in so that the rest of you can back me up if I need it."

"What about enemy air support?" Celeste asked.

"Hopefully, they'll keep it to a minimum. I know Anakin; he is gifted, yes, but he is also brash and so sure of himself he believes he is unbeatable. He'll keep a few squads of troopers behind him and maybe a scout fighter, nothing else."

She looked over at Naruto, seeing his worried expression, and smiled ever so softly, "I know you're worried, but with what you've taught me combined with my training as a Jedi, I am stronger now than I was before. Please, my love: believe in me."

"I always do," Naruto replied with a loving smile of his own.

"Then let me do this," Aayla replied back, her soft voice and tender eyes full of experienced confidence in her abilities.

Naruto, seeing her resolve was not a result of sheer bravado, couldn't help but have unfaltering confidence in her. He closed his eyes and nodded his head, "Alright…but I will be ready **if** you need me."

Aayla smiled teasingly at him, "Well, you'd better be, mister…or you're sleeping on the couch, tonight!"

Naruto started sputtering before levelling off into a sheepish chuckle.

Rex walked up to Naruto, and slapped him on the back, flashing him a grin before he spoke. "Don't worry so much, chief. As I said, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to deal with anything Force-related."

"Really?" Naruto asked, his interest suddenly piqued, "…do tell."

"Come with me, and I'll show you," Rex replied, leading Naruto out of the corridor and out of sight.

"What does Rex have?" Ahsoka asked with a curious frown.

"You didn't check out what he brought back from his last run, did you?" Celeste quipped with a cheeky grin.

"No…" Ahsoke replied slowly, "…so…what did he get?"

"Something Naruto's really going to love!"

Aayla rolled her eyes as she jumped out of her pilot's chair, reaching for her utility belt and strapping it around her waist. She took out the blaster, checked its cartridge, and fluidly swept up her Jedi cloak as she made her way to the cockpit's exit.

The last thing she heard upon exiting was Naruto holler with glee from the other side of the ship, "Rex, you are the MAN!"

* * *

"Thank you for coming," Shadday Potkin spoke up to the assembly before her. She was a reasonably young woman, Bultar Swan saw, maybe in her late twenties to early thirties. Her hair was a dark chocolate brown and cut short, her skin was tanned and her eyes were a dark brown. The healer had heard of her, mainly during the early years of the war but she never really stood out on the field of battle.

Her eyes fell upon the other members of this meeting: a total of eight Jedi Masters, including herself and her old friend and ally Master Tsui Choi. The two of them had just entered the abandoned spice mine a few moments before and were quickly welcomed by the Jedi Masters. The others, all waiting for them, were seated in a half-circle of empty steel storage crates. A few of them, Swan recognized, while others, she did not.

"As you can see, Masters Roblio Darte, Sia-Lan Wezz, Ma'Kis'Shaalas, Koffi Arana and Jastus Farr have already joined us…" the young woman introduced with a wave of her hand, "…I am expecting one more, but I think we can begin."

The healer's eyes quickly scanned those in attendance. She recognised all of them, now that she had names.

Roblio Darte was seated to the far left, a human man in his middle years, long dirty blond hair done up in dreadlocks and a beard, well muscled and obviously a man of action. To his immediate right, sat Sia'Lan Wezz, perhaps the youngest present, with a slim build, long blonde hair done in a braid and a complexion of olive skin she stood out as a beautiful woman: a gifted Jedi, but also known to be quite impulsive. To her right, Ma'Kis'Shaalas, a Nikto Jedi Master, leaned against a crate beside her, dressed in the tunic, pants and knee high black boots of a Jedi, with light brown skin and a crown of horns along his head, twisting down his cheeks. Sitting on a crate across from him was Koffi Arena, dressed in red armour with dark skin, a well-kept beard and braided black hair, and finally across from him was a giant of a man, Jastus Farr, of a race Swan was unfamiliar with, but he was an intimidating figure in the meeting: a large man with blue skin and fur who was double the size of a human.

"Then perhaps we should begin with _why_we are here?" Choi asked as he looked around at those assembled.

"We are here to save the Republic," Master Darte replied.

"There is no Republic, Master Darte…" Choi countered calmly, "…the Senate chose to become an Empire, remember?"

"They were manipulated, just as we Jedi were manipulated with the Clone Wars. Palpatine and Dooku were in league with one another. That much is plain now…" Master Koffi Arena replied as he sat on his crate, "…two Sith, only two…and the entire Jedi Order was laid to waste. What good have the Jedi teachings been?"

He wasn't looking at anyone, but Masters Choi and Swan could see the eyes of a broken man, "Kill the Sith! Kill them, and their empire falls."

"Hmm…" Ma'Kis'Shaalas hummed as he leaned against his perch and crossed his arms, seemingly in thought, but Swan could tell that it was with approval, "…killing the Sith is difficult to do at best. Many guards, this new emperor has. Can it be done? I do not know. Should it be tried? Yes."

Swan looked around, seeing some in favour of such action, but others against it. Shadday Potkin stood to the side, seemingly uninteresting in the conversation. Instead, she seemed to be waiting for the arrival of their last participant. The healer sensed a disturbance in the Force: something was wrong.

There was a murmur of agreement around the small circle, but it was silenced by the aging voice of Master Choi as he looked at both Ma'Kis'Shaalas and Arena, "What you seek is revenge, Master Arena, and that can only lead to the dark side."

"Perhaps…" the armoured Jedi allowed, "…and perhaps to destroy the Sith, one needs to go to the dark side. Has the dark side already proven stronger after all? To save the galaxy, dare we not use any weapon?"

The large form of Master Farr finally spoke up, deep in thought from his place, "Can one take the dark path to achieve good or can the dark path corrupt the good that one hopes to achieve? So the great masters have always said: 'Dark path and dark end'. This is the common wisdom…but is it the truth, I wonder?"

Swan was obviously uncomfortable with the way the meeting was going, for she went to the side of another of her oldest friends, Roblio Darte. He had been quiet during the whole argument and she had hoped that she could at least convince him.

"We're talking off revenge, Roblio…" Swan began as she turned her attention to her old comrade, "…that is not the path of the Jedi. Having lost so much already…must we now give that up as well?"

Roblio looked at her, eyes softening at her look of distress, "We strayed from the path of the Jedi when we became Generals, didn't we? I am not looking for vengeance, Bultar. I am only looking to make things right."

"Things are as they are, Roblio Darte…" Choi said, looking upon the two, "…the situation has changed over the years, and it will change again. This empire will learn to groan under the heel of the Sith. Then it will fall to us, or others, to take up the fight, but now is not the time for that discussion."

The argument was silenced by the echoing whine of the blast door opening at the entrance to the chamber twenty meters away from the small enclave. The heads of all in attendance snapped around, waiting for the new arrival to make his or her way up the corridor into sight. As the newcomer approached and stepped into the light, they saw that it was a slim figure whose features and gender were obscured beneath Jedi robes.

"Who are you?" Potkin asked with a little edge in her tone, which surprised a few of the Masters present. Wasn't she expecting another to attend this meeting?

The figure stood there for a moment, before reaching up for its hood with hands of a deep cerulean. The hands pulled the hood away, revealing a female Twi'lek with cerulean-coloured skin, cone shaped ears and a pair of Lekku done up in a leather clasp. Some did not recognise her, but Bultar Swan did, and a smile tugged upon the woman's features at seeing her again.

"Identify yourself!" Potkin demanded again.

"Jedi Knight Aayla Secura…" Swan smiled as she began walking forward with confident strides, remembering the woman she had taught so many years ago. Aayla smiled upon seeing one of her old teachers and accepted her embrace without hesitation, "…it is so good to see you, my dear child. I had feared you lost."

"Master Swan…" Aayla greeted back warmly, tightening her embrace, "…I thank the Force that you are alive, as well."

There was silence, only interrupted with the patter of tiny steps as the diminutive figure of Tsui Choi approached the pair. He was before them in a moment, looking up at the young woman with a smile, "Aayla, you've gotten so big since the last time I saw you."

Aayla smiled brightly as she looked down at another former teacher, "Master Choi. You haven't changed at all since I last saw you."

The old creature chuckled as she kneeled down to embrace him, feeling her calm and happiness in the Force and feeling further bolstered by it, "I can't say the same, haven't seen you since you were as tall as me. You have grown into a beautiful young woman; strong, too, I sense."

Aayla couldn't help but smile despite the situation, "Thank you, Master."

Their reunion was short lived, interrupted easily as Potkin took a step forward. Her features were set in a slight frown which she was trying to hide. Obviously she had not expected Aayla to make an appearance at this meeting, "May I ask who you are?"

Aayla was about to answer, but wasn't as fast as the tiny Master before her. Master Choi released her, turned around and looked Shadday Potkin in the eye as he mildly rebuked his colleague, "I am surprised you do not know her name, Master Potkin. This is Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight. I believe her escapades as a General during the war are quite well-known, and her reputation certainly precedes her."

Indeed, recognition did spark within more than one pair of eyes once her name was spoken. Swan looked over at Potkin curiously as the elder of the trio made the introductions, "Was she not invited to this meeting, Master Potkin?"

Aayla took little notice, eyes once again on the small Jedi Master as she spoke with haste, "I have come to warn you, Masters. Someone has tipped off the Empire about this conclave. As we speak, Darth Vader is on his way here."

Turning to the diminutive master who had vouched for her presence at the conclave, Aayla continued urgently, "We need to leave, now. I was just able to get ahead of him, but he will come and he will have an army behind him. I have a ship, and with but a word, I can call it in for extraction."

Before anyone of those present could respond, they were brought to full alert by the screeching of the blast-door being ripped from its hinges, followed by a series of echoing smashes as the remains were unceremoniously slammed against the walkway. A voice, nightmarish and echoing, resounded from the corridor, one with nothing but anger and hatred in each breathe.

"Obi-Wan!"

Aayla's head darted to the corridor, feeling Swan's hand pulling her in the direction of her fellow Jedi as she and Master Choi took several steps back. She knew he was coming, but she thought she would have more time. Metallic steps echoed as the mechanical Sith lord ascended the steps towards the main mine shaft. She heard the _snap-hiss_of a lightsaber being ignited and could swear she could make out the red hue in the darkness.

"You led him right to us," Swan said with a frown, looking over at Potkin with pure confusion written on her face.

"I did…" Shadday replied as she glanced at the older Jedi before igniting her lightsaber, "…I knew exactly what would happen when this council gathered. There would be debate, there would be meditation…but there would be no action. I needed to draw us here in sufficient number, and then I needed to draw Vader here."

"And you used Obi-wan's name to do it!" Aayla accused, looking over at the Jedi Master with a frown.

"I do not know his past with Master Kenobi, nor do I care. I only knew that using his name would bring Vader here."

Other lightsabers were igniting, some did so eagerly, others because they saw the corner they had been driven into and knew there was no other choice but to fight.

"However powerful he may be, Vader is one, and we are many. No more debate, no more 'reflection', no need for planning; our prey comes to us. When he is dead, the Emperor will be crippled, He will know fear, and the Galaxy will know that the Jedi yet live!"

Before either Choi or Swan could reply, Vader made himself known, his black-armoured form coming from the shadows as smoothly as a phantom, but his voice thundered like an angry god, "Where is Obi-wan Kenobi!"

"Not here, Sith…" Potkin jeered as she took a step forward, "…his name was the bait for the trap I've laid for you!"

The dark lord was not deterred, such was his anger that he didn't even seem to register the identities of those in the room, "The first one to tell me where to find him lives. The rest of you shall die."

A blur of motion passed right by Aayla and her dark eyes widened in surprise and dread when she saw the form of Master Wezz rush the dark lord, lightsaber ignited and held over her head in time for a downward stroke, "It is you who will die!"

Aayla saw it before anyone else could even contemplate it: in but a moment, it seemed that everything around her slowed down. She watched as the Master jumped high to bring greater momentum to her swing…but it was a wasted effort. Vader was ready for her. All he needed to do was bring his blade forward and he would pierce her right through the heart.

In the blink of an eye, Aayla reacted with an amazing speed she never knew she had. She raised her hands, reaching into the Force and knowing her target before calling upon that reservoir of energy. Vader had just flicked his wrist, bringing his lightsaber onto its deadly course. Aayla could picture the look of surprise and shock on Wezz's face at the speed of his movement before she was thrown back by an invisible force, the tip of the dark lord's blade piercing a millimetre into her skin before she was clear of him and into Aayla's waiting arms.

Aayla took a deep breath, holding onto the master as she gritted her teeth against the pain, yet she was still alive. Her surprise was written clearly on the Twi'lek female's face as she looked down at her hands. She had no idea that she was this fast; an accomplished Force user, for certain, but never possessing of reflexes and speed that would put a good many Jedi Masters to shame. And yet, she had just demonstrated such reflexes and speed!

Aayla remembered the first thing that Naruto taught them when he first began their endurance training. He had explained to them that the longer one trained their body the more it became reflex, by going over hand seals over and over, one was able to do them faster and without thought; by practising stances, one could eventually make falling into a combat stance as easy as breathing; by practising Jutsu, it was only a matter of time before they would instinctively know exactly how to mould the necessary chakra and when to use it.

She had no idea that the training would make her this quick, though! Granted, she had trained in being able to use the Force with the same ferocity as she did to use chakra, but she hadn't expected such profound improvements in so short a time.

"Are you alright?" she asked, shaking her head to dispel her sudden surprise. Sia'Lan looked up at her, wincing in pain, hand gripping onto the burn wound in her chest, but nodding her head.

"No, but I'll live," she replied as she shakily tried to get to her feet.

Aayla kept her down with a hand before turning to the healer of the group, "Master Swan, can you help her?"

"I'll do what I can," the healer replied as she kneeled down.

"Thank you," Aayla nodded as she rose, looking back to the fight in time to see that it had quickly gotten out of control.

Vader was encircled by the other Masters, who had jumped into the fray a few moments after Master Wezz jumped into the attack. It was obvious who the most-skilled duelist was: Vader moved with precision born from many years of skill and practice, effortlessly parrying and deflecting multiple strikes as he spun his form and twisted his body, his long black cloak flowing around him like a shroud.

His first victim was Ma'Kis'Shaalas. Vader killed the Nikto Jedi Master with a single, well placed strike, throwing away Master Arena with a force push before bringing his lightsaber down with a blur of motion, bringing it up in a reverse diagonal strike across his chest, leaving burning cloth and a slash wound of third degree burns as he was thrown back to the ground, dead before impact.

The moment the Nikto Jedi Master's body hit the ground, the surrounding Jedi renewed their attack. Master Farr was able to come in behind Vader, landing a strike to his back with one end of his double-bladed lightsaber. Vader cried out, more in surprise than pain, as his armour absorbed most of the blow. The dark lord then performed a somersault with the force, evading Master Arena's follow-up, and while he was in midair, he was just able to bring his blade around to block the strike from Master Choi as he jumped above him, using his smaller stature to present a target near impossible to hit.

Vader twisted his body, dodging the smaller master's second strike, and landed on the spine of a long-abandoned crane, looking up in time to see Master Potkin follow. Instinctively, Vader brought his blade up to deflect the coming blow only to see at the last moment that it wasn't a lightsaber she wielded, but a well-crafted blade. The two blades met, and his lightsaber blade snapped out of existence.

"Surprised, Sith lord? I've prepared very carefully for this moment…" Potkin grinned as she brought the blade down in another slash which Darth Vader sidestepped, "…this is a Cortosis blade. Your lightsaber will now be useless for the next few minutes, more than enough time to kill you."

Suddenly Shadday was stopped in place, lifted off her feet by an invisible force as something unknown latched around her neck. The Jedi Masters eyes widened in surprise and fear upon seeing Vader's black gloved hand grasp around her neck, hand gripping onto the hilt of her cortosis blade, "Since I require a weapon, I shall take yours."

With that he promptly snapped her neck, releasing her body and barely giving it a glance as it fell from the crane. Cortosis blade in hand he leapt from the crane, diving towards the surviving masters with ease, "Tell me, where is Obi-wan Kenobi?"

With a few well-timed strikes, he disabled the lightsaber blades of Masters Darte, Arena and Farr but was unprepared for the sudden strike from Master Choi. The Jedi lashed out with his blade just as the Sith Lord spun around to confront him, severing the mechanical limb which held the deadly weapon.

"If one cannot touch the blade, touch the hand that wields it!" the small Jedi Master exclaimed smartly.

Aayla chose that moment to enter the fray with speed, her hand reaching under her robes to procure three kunai knives which she threw with deadly accuracy. All three kunai hit their mark, stabbing into Vaders left leg, the wounds sparking as the mechanical limb threatened to fail. The dark lord fell to his knees, surprise oozing off him through the Force that he had been defeated.

"I underestimated you, my masters. You have proven yourselves to be greater adversaries than I had anticipated. I am at your mercy…" Aayla could not believe what she was hearing, Darth Vader, surrendering? To confirm her supposed suspicion, Vader added, "…I surrender."

"No!" Master Arena shouted angrily, glaring at him, "Look at him! It is another Sith trick! He seeks to make fools out of us again! Kill him!"

"Stop, Master Arena…" Swan called, attempting to restrain him, "…we are Jedi. We will not murder an unarmed man who has surrendered."

"He needs to die!" Arena shouted angrily, turning on Swan, eyes glaring at her unlit lightsaber, "If you will not kill him, then give your lightsaber to me, and I will!"

"Don't give into your anger, Master Arena," she pleaded with him, watching as he attempted to grab the blade. The two struggled for it, "Please, don't give in!"

"I will take what I need to end this, Master Swan, one way or another!"

Another hand gripped onto the lightsaber, snapping it to the side just as it was activated. The blue blade cut through the air. Swan was able to see that she had just had a lucky escape. A pale hand slapped Master Arena across the cheek with stinging force. The man turned to see Sia'Lan Wezz, glaring furiously at him.

"Don't!" she growled angrily as she pried the hilt from his hands and gave it back to Bultar, but her eyes didn't leave Koffi Arena's as she continued to glare, silently challenging him to say anything, "Just…don't!"

Arena returned her glare, "I will kill him!"

"And kill one of us, one of your own while you do it!" Wezz spat back, her chest heaving and her breathing laboured, showing that the blade had cut deep enough into her chest to damage her lungs. "Be very careful where you are walking, Master Arena. Even if it means killing Vader and ending this madness, I will not allow you to take the life of a fellow Jedi!"

There was a dark blur and suddenly an explosion of blood which spattered across Sia'Lan's face, startling her. Koffi Arena went rigid, looking down in surprise to see the blood covered blade of a sword exiting his chest. Bultar, surprised and horrified, stumbled back and saw who the man who ended Arena's life was.

He wore black armour, a long black cape fluttering behind him as he extracted his katana from the dead Jedi, kicking his corpse away and removing the remainder of blood with a flick of his wrist. The healer saw black spiked hair, pale skin and dark onyx eyes devoid of all life. In his hands was the weapon he used to kill Master Arena, a well-crafted katana which he pointed at the surprised Jedi healer. Bultar and Sai'Lan were just able to activate their blades and bring them up in time to deflect the incoming blows.

A kick to her midsection sent the already-wounded Sia'lan flying back, slamming against the ground and skidding to a halt as the air was unceremoniously ripped from her battered lungs.

"Bultar, Sia'Lan," Roblio cried out with worry as he rushed to their aide, lightsaber clashing with the blade of their new assailant.

Vader used his chance. With the Force, he levitated his severed hand into the air, still carrying the cortosis blade and threw it at the surprised form of Jastus Farr. The large behemoth saw the strike coming, but was unable to get out of its path. The blade stabbed into his shoulder, causing the Master to grunt in pain before he fell to his knees, grabbing onto the hilt of the imbedded blade.

A high jump-kick sent Roblio skidding across the floor, and Swan was alone against this new foe, finding it more and more difficult simply in the act of defending herself than counterattacking. Her new enemy's strikes were relentless, his every movement honed to near perfection. One morbid fact became clear: he was out of her league.

A trio of kunai flew through the air, and her new opponent was forced to disengage and backpedal to avoid them. Bultar took a step back, arms burning from just defending herself as Aayla jumped into a crouch between her and their new assailant. The Jedi Knight rose to her feet slowly and calculatingly, her eyes seemingly locked with the dead orbs of the assassin. Aayla spoke up after a few moments, addressing Bultar, "Go! Master Farr needs help!"

"What about you?" the Master asked.

"I will hold him as long as I can…" Aayla replied, "…don't worry; help is coming!"

Swan nodded her head before moving to help the larger master, obviously stricken from the strike he took from Vader, who was now being kept at bay by Master Choi and a still-stricken but determined Wezz. The young woman was obviously in pain, but she continued to fight, at least to help Master Choi in keeping the wounded form of Vader at bay.

Aayla took a deep breath as she looked back to her opponent. His form was idle, but it was clear that he was ready for action. Aayla ignited her lightsaber, falling into a ready stance as she waited for her opponent to make the first move. He did not; he simply stayed where he was, looking at her with misted-over eyes which were not natural.

"I know that form," Aayla murmured as she took a step forward, watching each twitch and movement on this man's frame just as Naruto had taught her. The form he had used after he killed Master Arena was so familiar to her, and she had only now realised what it was.

"Tell me, stranger…" Aayla addressed her current adversary, "…are you what is called a Shinobi?"

He did not reply, but he did hesitate, and a small splash of emotion appeared in his onyx eyes. Aayla knew the signs when she saw them, signs of acute brain-washing and remodelling as clear as day in her mind. She had seen it before.

He blurred forward, his blade flurrying like a mass of gleaming light as it impacted against her lightsaber. The blow sent her staggering back, but she recovered quickly enough to counter his next series of strikes and stabs, deflecting and blocking as well as she could. Her opponent was quicker than her, however, and within the first handful of strikes she was already sporting several shallow cuts from close calls.

"You cannot hope to win…" Vader said, hand outstretched in time to grab onto the flailing hilt of a still-working lightsaber and ignited it the moment his gloved hand gripped onto it, "…once you were nine, now you are six…and that number will soon dwindle even further. My forces approach. You have one last chance: tell me where Obi-Wan Kenobi hides!"

Tsui Choi, Jastus Farr and Bultar Swan stood before him, all three with their arms outstretched and ready to use the Force as their ally. It was the smallest, yet oldest, of the trio who spoke, "Even if we knew…we would not tell you."

Masses of rock and debris rose into the air, before being tossed towards the dark lord with the will of all three masters. The shards of metal, rock and machinery met with Darth Vader's own mental defences, but against the will of three masters of such high power and esteem even he could only endure so much. His barriers failed, and the storm of rock and metal fell upon him, smashing against the shattered remains of his armour.

"Yield, Vader!" Choi demanded, relinquishing their devastating barrage upon the dark lord for but a moment.

"I will…destroy…you all," Vader growled, his armour severely damaged, sparks mixed with blood coming from both the mechanical parts of his appendages, and those parts that were still blood-fed flesh.

"So be it, then…" Choi conceded at last, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt and igniting it in a smooth motion, "…you leave us no choice. Master Koffi was right on one thing: the deaths of untold numbers of innocents are on your hands…and those hands will be stained with the blood of countless more if you are allowed to simply walk away."

Before the elder Jedi could move in to deliver the blow, they were attacked. Four new figures rushed into the chamber, decked in black armour similar to that of the assassin that Aayla was stalemated against, but in addition to the armour, they were bedecked in encompassing black cloaks and bullet shaped helms, and in their hands was an ignited double-bladed lightsaber, spinning in their hands as they advanced.

Immediately the surviving Jedi were forced to react, jumping to the side, their own lightsabers ignited in time to meet this new threat. But these new arrivals did not target the Jedi. Instead, they encircled the stricken Darth Vader in a diamond formation, and then, they simply waited.

Stormtroopers arrived at the moment the new arrivals fell into formation around their Lord. Dozens of white-clad troops rushed across the walkway many meters above them, all armed with the latest blasters and decked in the newest armour. The leader of the platoon, whose armour was engraved with blue stripes showing his rank, looked down upon the battle as his troops took up position, blasters at the ready to take their foes down by sheer magnitude of firepower.

"Execute the enemies of the Empire," the commander ordered. The assassin hopped away from his opponents, using a jump enhanced by some higher power to perch himself on the railing of the same walkway the troopers were lined upon, sword sheathed in the blink of an eye. He was a dark wraith, standing out from those who looked like ashen bone.

"Make ready!" the commander ordered, and the blasters were aimed.

Aayla looked on, preparing herself for the barrage, against this many veterans, who were perched on high ground and ready to fight, not even the six Jedi before them could leave unscathed. A few of the older and more experienced may survive, as well as herself, but she knew that without help their numbers would be halved, Masters Wezz and Farr would not be able to survive such a hail of weapons' fire due to their injuries.

Aayla heard the low hum of engines and smiled despite the situation. Help was at hand, and if anything, the man she had given herself to was known to appear at the last possible moment to save the day. She made a mental note to talk to him about that…rather sternly. She looked out past the crane towards the plateau and her small smile turned into a grin when she saw the familiar metallic form of the _Will of Fire_descend upon them, a mass of metallic silver blotting out the sun as it turned.

The Stormtroopers looked upon the starship before turning their attention from the Jedi to what was now the larger threat. Blaster fire spewed from their rifles in a barrage of red beams, slamming against the armoured hull of the ship, yet unable to do much more than leave black scorch marks. Almost in response to the blaster fire, the entry ramp of the ship descended, and two figures walked towards the edge and stopped, making themselves known to those below.

* * *

The two of them looked over the landscape: stormtroopers had positioned themselves on the upper levels of walkways along the walls with weapons trained towards the ground, while the Jedi and Darth Vader were on the ground level, seemingly in a standoff, while several bodies, three of which seemed to belong to Jedi, were also scattered around the floor in heaps.

As Naruto looked down, he focused on those who were his main concern: he saw Aayla, alongside a man who had the look of a warrior and a woman who was obviously in need of medical assistance. Vader was at the other side of the shaft, beaten and at the mercy of another three Jedi, one of whom looked badly wounded. Four warriors decked in black surrounded the weakened Sith, looking ready to strike down anyone who drew near enough. Among the white-clad troopers in the walkways above, he noticed a man equipped with black armour carrying a katana. Naruto was unable to see the man's face, as it was hooded, and he was standing in shadows that covered his head and shoulders, but there was something eerily familiar about that man…particularly with the stance that he held. One fact about this man that Naruto was able to easily discern: he was strong.

"Those weapons of yours can do the trick, right Rex?" he asked as he looked upon the situation.

Rex looked upon the same scenario as he hefted his weapon to his hip, activating its systems and placing it on automatic fire before walking to the edge of the ramp. He aimed the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon right at the high walkway, smirking when he saw who was leading the kill team far below. He would recognise that lump of poodoo anywhere.

"Hello Bow."

The commander looked up, eyes widening behind his mask as he identified one of the men standing on the open ramp-way. He snarled the name with nothing but venom and bile, remembering the traitor whose very existence stained the reputation of his legion, "Rex!"

Rex smirked before he pulled the trigger to his cannon, releasing a torrent of azure blue blaster bolts along the surface of the walkway, downing six stormtroopers with the three second burst. Four hit the deck, white armour pot-marked with black burn spots while another two were thrown from the walkway, slamming into the ground with bone-shattering force. The surviving clones took cover behind packed steel crates and support pillars, returning fire.

"Nice one," Naruto grinned as he walked towards the edge of the rampway, looking down upon the body-littered landscape. The black-armoured bodyguards of the dark lord were already moving swiftly into action, one aiding the Sith out of the chamber while the other three charged the Jedi, obviously aiming for the wounded of the group to even out the numbers, "Keep the troopers busy."

"Obviously," the Captain replied as he set the cannon down on a slab of cloth, looking over the assembly of weapons present before opting for the DC-15X sniper rifle, "What's your plan?"

Naruto took several steps back, drawing his katana and taking a practice swing before breaking off into a run, jumping off the ramp with a chakra-propelled leap, katana over his head as he crossed the precipice and came down where he wanted to be. Right on top of one of the black armoured guards.

Rex sighed, slamming a blaster pack into place and testing the scope before aiming right at the walkway below him, sights trained on the white helm of a stormtrooper, "Guess I should have seen that coming."

He pulled the trigger, and a lance of azure energy pierced the helm of the stormtrooper, killing him before he even hit the ground. Rex chambered another round and fired again, hitting the exposed knee of another and finishing him with a shot to the head when he fell into the open. The return fire was now completely sporadic as the troopers weren't even aiming anymore, just firing from behind the safety of their barriers. Rex placed the sniper rifle down, not wishing to waste a shot, and picked up a T-9 Grenade Launcher. Placing a frag grenade into the barrel before coming down to a knee, he aimed at the walkway and…

"Goodnight, boys!" he exclaimed as he pulled the trigger. The grenade shot through the air with a dull thump, skipping across the decking. Before the surviving troopers saw the grenade, it exploded with all the force of a thermal detonator, throwing another five soldiers clear off the platform, falling to their deaths…if the blast and the scorching heat didn't kill them first.

He smiled at the sight and sighed contentedly, "…I love this job."

* * *

Sia-Lan ducked and twisted, dodging and deflecting the masterful strokes of her opponent, smelling the burning ozone in the air as she was forced to back-pedal. The black-armoured trooper followed without the slightest hesitation, spinning his double-bladed lightsaber in circles as he attacked her with quick, precise one-two combinations, spinning on his heel and lashing out from every angle.

It was all she could do to keep up. The burn on her chest was painful and she knew that it had done some damage to her breathing, which was coming out in shallow gasps. She was low on breath and with her training regime she shouldn't be this soon into the duel. She knew that Vader's blade hadn't gone in too deep, so it must have been when Master Arena's killer kicked her in the chest with more force than was needed. She had felt more than a few ribs crack under the strike.

She deflected her opponent's ruby blade, moving her lightsaber when he disengaged in time to intercept the other as he spun around, dancing around her with beautifully-choreographed motion and fluidity as she kept pace with a duelist's footwork. The kick came out of nowhere, ripping the oxygen from her lungs painfully as she was launched through the air and landed hard on the ground, arms wrapped around her stomach as she gasped for air.

The blonde Jedi opened her eyes in time to see the black trooper advance, and hastily, she made a grab for her now-unlit weapon. The weapon flew out of her reach, landing in the outstretched hand of her opponent, who clipped it to his utility belt as he advanced, extinguishing one blade and bringing the other over his head.

She heard a dull thump a few meters away, followed by a deep, gruff voice, "Hey!"

Both she and her assailant turned in time to see a tall, well built human man rising to his feet, dressed in clothing similar to the attire she saw Knight Secura wear under her robes, similar, but also very different. His pants and jacket were a dark orange with black trim, some kind of jumpsuit, she supposed, a sleeveless armoured flak vest of dark camouflage green was worn over, and a long black coat with red flames along the hem and cuffs worn over that. He was handsome with tanned skin, whisker marks across his cheeks, piercing blue eyes and spiky blond hair a few shades darker than hers. In his hands was a katana, similar to that of the assassin.

He raised the weapon, pointing the tip to the black-armoured acolyte, a dark smile on his face as he spoke, "That is no way to treat a lady, my friend!"

She blinked in surprise at his choice of words. That blink was enough for her to lose sight of him, as the next thing she knew, he was already upon his opponent! A flash of light showed her that his free hand had drawn a strange-looking knife from his waist. When he was within a meter of the dark acolyte, he jumped, pulling his sword-arm back and thrusting forward in a deadly stab which the acolyte sidestepped.

Apparently the acolyte's sidestep had been anticipated by the tall blond warrior. She watched, entranced, as he spun around, his blade slicing through the air as it intercepted the lightsaber, keeping it from slicing through his guts. A follow-up stab from his knife was again keenly sidestepped by his enemy, as was the spinning strike from the katana. Sia'Lan could only watch, mesmerized, as Vader's bodyguard and this stranger danced around each other in a fluid and deadly game, ruby blades blurred and metallic swords glinted in the low light as they blocked each other from killing their wielders.

The katana and lightsaber blade met again and locked, and with a single strong motion the blond brought the locked weapons to the ground, making the bodyguard stoop over and using the momentum to lash out with a backhand, smashing into the acolyte's helm with an audible crack, making the helmeted soldier stagger back. Sia'Lan's eyes widened when she saw the crack along the faceplate.

The stranger threw his knife, and Sia'Lan watched as the acolyte intercepted it with a swing of his blade. One of his hands now free, the stranger brought both his hands together, making a cross shaped seal with his middle and forefingers and muttering a quick incantation she could not hear. There was a dual explosion of white smoke, and another two exact copies stood side by side, both armed in the same manner as their creator.

They moved together, one flanking left, the other right, and the original in the centre. The acolyte backpedalled quickly, his double-bladed lightsaber once again spinning in his hands as he spun around, blocking the strikes from his trio of opponents. A spinning heel kick slammed into the clone on the right, causing him to explode in a mass of smoke. A few moments and strikes later the one on the left was stabbed in the torso with the ruby blade and also became smoke.

The third one took the chance and jumped, katana over his head. The acolyte brought his lightsaber up instinctively, but not fast enough. The katana came down, and the long hilt was cut in two. The acolyte fell back, losing the grip of one half of his weapon but keeping a hold off the other. He performed a handstand before jumping back to his feet, spinning the remnants of his lightsaber around to deflect several more keenly-timed strikes and stabs.

Another knife snapped into the man's hand, and with a simple motion he stabbed it into the acolyte's leg, causing him to cry out in pain. The follow-up sweeping cut from his katana neatly took the bodyguards head off his shoulders. The body remained standing for a moment before falling into a heap on the decking.

There were no words spoken, background noise of lightsabers clashing, blaster fire and a grenade explosion all that was detected by Sia'Lan's ears. The man remained in his stance for a long moment, taking in a deep breath before shaking his head, "Wow…he was stronger than I thought."

He then looked over to her, sheathing his weapon as he approached and crouched down. He offered her a hand, "Can you stand?"

She took his hand hesitantly, and winced as he pulled her to her feet. Her hand immediately went to her side, where one of her ribs was definitely broken, "Just about."

He offered her a concerned look before his gaze went up to the still open landing ramp, "Can you make a jump?"

Sia'Lan looked up, disbelief on her features. If she were in one piece she might be able too, but in the condition she was in, "No, I…don't think so…" she managed to utter through teeth gritted tightly in pain.

"Okay then…" he said in a chipper voice, and before Sia'Lan knew it she was lifted up in his arms, uttering little more than a surprised squeak as he opened his mouth and shouted, "…Hey Rex!"

"What!" a gruff voice called back, muffled by distance.

"Catch!"

Her eyes widened as he spun around, realisation hitting her with a monumental chill crawling up her spine. Surely he didn't mean to…? There was no way he could possibly…? This was madness!

"You cannot be serious," she muttered fearfully.

He threw her in mid-spin, sending her rocketing high up into the air, absently knowing she was screaming in both surprise and terror as the wind battered her form. She curled up in a ball, and couldn't believe how high she was climbing. It almost seemed like gravity had been forgotten for a brief moment. The last thing she saw was the surprised and disbelieving features of a clone before she collided head on with him, the two of them hitting the decking in a pile of limbs.

The two disentangled from each other, and the clone trooper looked at her with wide eyes before glaring over the edge of the ramp-way. She looked down as well. The blond actually had the nerve to look sheepish, waving his hand casually and shouting a single word, "Sorry, sorry."

"What the hell?" the clone roared, "You're insane!"

"You're just realising that, **now**!" the man shouted back without pause, his grin a mile wide, "Get that girl some medical attention, and for the love of the sage…tell Celeste to lower the ship!"

Sia'Lan could only watch as he turned and rushed head on into the fray.

'_Who the hell is this guy?'_ she thought to herself as she heard him cackling insanely while she watched him seemingly having the time of his life while almost getting himself killed.

* * *

Aayla sidestepped the strike from the ruby blade, ducked the follow-up swing and jumped back from the third slash. Her opponent did not relent, continuing to chase her with relentless swings, stabs and slashes from his double-bladed weapon.

She slammed her hands together, rushing through a sequence of seals as she backpedalled. Her assailant was fast though and with a feint he cut her form in half at the waist. It was a good thing she had cast that Genjutsu before he struck, otherwise she would probably be dead. Seeing his head snap left and right in search of her, the recently-made Chūnin used the time to cast a few more layers, making sure that she had him thoroughly confused.

Each of Naruto's three pseudo-apprentices had learned the basics the same way, but once that was accomplished they each made a choice and branched out, each choosing a different and unique path of the Shinobi.

Celeste had chosen to delve further into the art of Fuinjutsu, diving into the small library of books Naruto had given her in her insatiable curiosity to learn more about the art. Ahsoka had taken another path, finding herself fascinated with the principles of Iryojutsu, art of healing, which Naruto viewed with pessimism at first considering her impatient nature, but not only did she enjoy it, she excelled at it with a talent that he hadn't seen since Sakura.

Aayla, quite obviously, had chosen Genjutsu. She always did have a talent for concealing herself, and Genjutsu was several levels above whatever she had learned before. As Ahsoka seemed to have Sakura's talent for medical ninjutsu, so too did Aayla seem to have a talent for Genjutsu that, with time and energy, could rival even the great masters of the art on his home world. That was Naruto's opinion anyway, and she would admit that he was probably bias.

The black-armoured trooper was now spinning around, randomly lashing out with his blade in a vain attempt to hit something…anything. Aayla simply watched from the shadows as he engaged and 'killed' her doppelgangers before drawing a trio of kunai from her thigh pouch, coating them with chakra and then firing them in a hail towards the assassin. The blades pierced his back, two piercing straight through his armour. Stricken and surprised, the warrior fell to a knee.

Aayla jumped from her perch, lightsaber ignited as she dived towards her quarry. She barely even felt it, feint like a pulse but suddenly the wounded trooper's bullet shaped helm snapped in her direction, lightsaber stabbing out to impale her. Aayla brought her free hand to the ground, using a Force push to propel her higher, somersaulting over the bodyguards head. With a simple strike she severed his outstretched arm and as she hit the ground behind him she spun around, bringing her azure blade around in a sweeping arc she decapitated the fallen Force-sensitive.

She didn't even give her fallen enemy a second glance, instead her head snapping right and left. Someone had cancelled out her Genjutsu. She knew the feeling of a chakra burst anywhere. Naruto had used the same technique during one of their practice spars, showing her that while the illusionary arts could be powerful they could also be easily dispelled by an experienced Shinobi.

There was another blur, and she was just able to block the katana blade with her lightsaber, once again coming face to face with the dark haired assassin. Her surprise cost her, a swift kick to her gut sent her stumbling back and a follow up slash from his sword would have killed her, but Naruto intervened. Two katana met and scraped against each other as they locked, azure eyes meeting onyx. There was recognition from Naruto, whose eyes then narrowed as an angry smile crossed his face.

"Hello, Sasuke."

There was no answer, barely even recognition of his name. Sasuke simply acted, disengaging his sword and spinning around, lashing out with quick, precise strikes which were just as quickly intercepted and blocked. Aayla took a step back, watching with awe as these two Shinobi duelled each other with the fluidity and power of experienced Jedi Masters.

The Uchiha jumped back, a blast of flame spewing forth from his mouth, Naruto jumped back at exactly the same moment, sending out a stream of condensed air to collide with the flames. The two elemental Jutsu clashed with a grand explosion of flame which burnt the ground and blades of air which left slash marks on the pillars of rock and steel.

The battle taking place around them stopped, Jedi and the remaining bodyguards and stormtroopers ceasing hostilities just to watch the destructive aftermath of the engagement. Naruto and Sasuke both landed, but while Naruto skidded to a halt Sasuke continued to back away, performing handstands, a cartwheel and a backward somersault to retreat to the edge of the chamber. The moment he stopped, dozens more stormtroopers exploded from the only exit in an almost-endless column of white armour.

Naruto backed away, his eyes not leaving Sasuke's as he joined the surviving Jedi. Masters Farr, Choi, Swan, Darte and Aayla had their lightsabers ignited but they knew that these odds were beyond them. The one surviving bodyguard had jumped high onto the destroyed walkway, looking down upon the scene.

"I think it's time we got the hell out of here," Naruto murmured.

"We'll never make it to the ship…" Master Choi shook his head, "…the moment we run, they'll gun us down."

"Perhaps, Master Choi…" the large form of Jastus Farr agreed as he took a step forward, placing a giant hand on Naruto's shoulder to push him back into the semi-circle, "…the moment we turn our backs to run they'll gun us down. What we need is a diversion."

"Master Farr…" Bultar said in disbelief, "…you cannot possibly be thinking of-"

"I am," the large Jedi replied as he clipped his lightsaber to his belt and held up his hands. The Force correlated around him, and all in attendance could make out the shimmering form of a Force bubble, but far larger than was safe to create.

"I am injured and would only slow you down…" he explained as he began walking forward, keeping the blaster fire off of them, "…this way, at least…the rest of you can survive."

Naruto gritted his teeth, knowing that if he tapped into the Kyubi's power to create a completed chakra cloak he could wipe these few hundred clones out, but the risks were far too great. He could bring the entire mine shaft down on their heads, and then there was the problem with Sasuke being in the room. There was another entity which could match his cloak, and that was the Mangekyo Sharingan's legendary Susanoo. Naruto remembered Sasuke's version: it was perhaps the strongest ever created.

The diminutive figure of Master Choi hobbled over to the behemoth which was Master Farr, and for a long moment the two Masters looked each other in the eye. Tsui Choi sighed heavily and sadly before looking back at the huge Jedi Master, "There's no talking you out of this, is there?"

"I'm afraid not, my friend…" Farr replied before looking back at Naruto, "…I ask you to take the survivors and flee. Take them to safety. Can you do that, stranger?"

"You have my word, and I never go back on my word…" Naruto replied, gritting his teeth before making the seal for his signature technique, "…I can at least help you…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The survivors all looked on in surprise as twenty clones appeared out of the white smoke, quickly setting up a battle-line with Farr at their centre.

The large Jedi shook his head in bemusement as he looked back over, "That is a very neat trick. Now go, all of you! Go!"

They heard a stormtrooper give the order, "Do not let them escape! Fire at will!"

A deadly hail of blaster fire smashed into the large Jedi Master's barrier. The survivors all ran to the waiting ramp-way of the _Will of Fire_, while the twenty clones Naruto left behind drew their blaster pistols and returned fire to the small army of clones advancing upon them. Nearly two dozen of the white-armoured troopers fell before their combined firepower overwhelmed Master Farr's shield. The massive Jedi was peppered with blaster fire before falling on his back, unmoving. Without his barrier to aid them, the twenty clones quickly exploded into white smoke as they too were peppered.

It only bought them a minute, but it was more than enough. The survivors had jumped onto the landing ramp, and Aayla had slammed her fist into the control gauge within, closing the ramp-way and shielding them from the blaster fire. The last thing the survivors saw was Master Farr being overwhelmed.

"Celeste, get us the hell out of here!" Naruto yelled and stumbled as the ship suddenly lurched up and forward.

* * *

The ship rose high into the air, fire from the trooper's blaster rifles bouncing off its hull as it cleared the plateau and shot off like a rocket. The assassin looked on as three winged silhouettes of ARC-170 starfighters gave chase, laser cannons flashing.

The stormtroopers were quick, professional, and knew exactly what they were doing. The moment the ship escaped they secured the mine shaft, checking on the bodies of enemy and ally alike. The assassin didn't linger; there was no need for him to remain there. He spun on his heel, placing his hood over his head as he stalked across the half-destroyed deck, through the only exit and along the main walkway. He exited into another, larger chamber, also long abandoned.

His employer was seated on a steel crate, being looked over by a medic. The Sith lord had indeed been badly beaten. His life-supporting armour was a mess of sparking mechanics, armour burnt away or smashed in some places. He looked over at him. His helm had been removed, revealing a bald head, pale skin and the telltale signs of extreme second degree burns, still healing.

Darth Vader looked over at him, eyes a sickly yellow, "They escaped?"

"Four managed to escape. The other four are dead," the assassin replied in a dry, emotionless monotone.

"Not good enough," Vader growled.

"It is four less Jedi to worry about, no?" he asked.

Vader rose to his feet, burning yellow eyes glaring at him with rage and intensity. That was what this Lord of the Sith was: a behemoth of barely-restrained fury, a deadly weapon ready to be unleashed. The eyes burned, but were met with equal intensity, for the sharingan eyes of the assassin activated the very moment the intent to kill saturated the air. Burning yellow glared at bloody crimson for a handful of heartbeats before the dark lord turned away, stalking through the chamber.

"Prepare to leave!" Vader ordered loudly.

The assassin watched the dark lord's retreating back, before bringing his mind back to the confrontation. All he could remember was being in the service of the Emperor. Even though that was all he could remember, there were things he had seen during this battle which brought a feeling of…nostalgia…to him.

The first was when he engaged the Twi'lek woman and saw the clothing she wore when she shed her smouldering robes. He felt something as he looked upon the attire…familiarity…as well as a mass of other emotions he found difficult to discern. The second was when he engaged the blond man, and every second he felt a great welling of nostalgia, acquaintance and knowing.

He had known this man before.

"_Hello,__Sasuke."_

That name.

He said it as a quiet whisper, one not a soul around him could hear, testing it on the tip of his tongue. He felt something when he spoke that name: something more than familiarity or nostalgia. He felt it in his very being. That was his name. His name was Sasuke.

His eyes narrowed. The blond man knew who he was; he was sure of it. This meant that if he ever wanted to learn anything about who he was before he lost his memories, then he needed to find this person. To find this person…was to find his past…who he was…and who the ghost haunting his dreams was.

"Tell me, my beautiful ghost," he murmured, looking over at the mirage of a beautiful woman with shoulder-length pink hair, bedecked in a beautiful kimono depicting a summer's day, "If I find this man…will I begin to remember?"

She did not answer.

He did not expect her to.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__Naruto and Star Wars are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Lucas Arts, I make no profit from this story._

_**Author's Note 2: **__And now we're back to the present, forgive me for the last few chapters but now we are back on track. I've also rearranged the last three chapters back into some sort of order with the timeline so as not to confuse anyone who reads this story in the future._


	29. Aftermath

_**Chapter 28**_

_**Aftermath**_

The interior of the _Will of Fire _was quiet and still, as though its occupants were sitting in a tomb. The memories of the battle weighed heavily on all of them, but in particular, it was weighing most heavily on Aayla. She had gone in there with the objective of warning her fellow Jedi and getting them out of there before Vader arrived. Fate had shown once again that she could be cruel, as only four of the eight masters who had attended the meeting survived. She blamed herself, as though it was her own personal failure that they had met their ends at Vader's hands.

Masters Swan and Darte were seated on the central table while the smaller form of Master Choi paced back and forth, eyes closed in deep thought. Celeste leaned against the frame which led to the cockpit with her arms folded beneath her bust as she surveyed the scene, and Aayla placed a hand on her friend's shoulder as she entered. She saw Rex sitting in a corner cleaning his weapons. Ahsoka was tending to Master Wezz in the medical room, doing whatever she could for the wounded Jedi.

Naruto had remained in the cockpit, leaning against his sheathed sword, eyes closed and silent as he meditated. She could feel it in the force, and a glance at Celeste told her that the former Jedi Shadow had also felt it. Something was bothering him; Aayla knew it was the unexpected arrival of the assassin. She knew, deep down, that he was the same as Naruto, from the same caste: a Shinobi who might have the power to face him in equal terms. Pulling herself from her worry for the man she loved, Aayla brought her gaze back around to the rest of the occupants in the room.

"We are safe for now…" she reassured them all as she walked to Master Choi, seeing the elder Jedi open his eyes and nod, "…we have outrun the Imperials and escaped into hyperspace. We'll make a few micro-jumps to completely throw off any pursuers."

"Thank you, Knight Secura…" Tsui Choi managed a smile, "…If it were not for you and your companions…we would have all met our end."

"We were not fast enough, Master Choi…" Aayla replied sadly with a shake of her head, "…if I had gotten there but a few minutes earlier, then perhaps the bloodshed could have been avoided."

"Do not blame yourself, Knight Secura…" Master Swan sighed as she sat at the round table, "…if anyone is to blame for all of this, it is we – the masters who were in that room who didn't pay close enough attention to realize that Master Potkin's thoughts likely betrayed her duplicitous intentions."

"Indeed…" Master Darte agreed, "…we should have sensed Vader's presence sooner. We should have also foreseen Master Potkin's intentions, as her desire for vengeance would have created a disturbance in the Force…" Darte offered Aayla a compassionate smile, "…regardless, child, some of them would have remained behind to face the dark lord, anyway; I could sense that much. Blame does not lie with you, and there probably wasn't anything you could have said to sway their course, either."

After several seconds of sombre silence, Aayla walked to the table and took a seat, leaning against the surface of the round counter and releasing a sad sigh, "There is another conclave, Masters…on the Wookiee home world of Kashyyyk in four days' time. It is said that all survivors of the massacre will be congregating there, including surviving members of the high council, to discuss our next course of action."

"Who has told you this?" Darte asked.

"I met my former master on Nar Shaadaa, nearly six months ago…" Aayla replied as she looked at the master, "…I trust Master Vos with my life, and according to him, the meeting will be chaired by Master Yoda himself."

"It is a waste of time…" Choi shook his head, "…we do not have the numbers to face the Empire openly, and the people are behind Palpatine and the Sith. Even if we destroyed them, we cannot rebuild the Republic, and I feel that if we did, then the entire galaxy would fall into war."

"I agree, Master Choi…" Aayla replied, surprising the elder Jedi. She managed a weak smile, "…just because I am young does not mean that I am looking for a fight. I agree, the Senate chose to become an Empire, whether they were deceived by Palpatine or not. Our only ally at this stage is time. I feel that with time, the galaxy will see the Sith for what they truly are…and then our time will come."

"Wise words for one so young," Bultar Swan said with a smile.

Aayla smiled back, "But I feel that my words will not get across; not without the words of a master who feels the same way. Master Choi, will you not come to the conclave with us, and aide me in making the Jedi see reason?"

A chuckle escaped the elderly master's lips, "Wise beyond your years, Knight Secura. I will follow you and join this conclave on Kashyyyk. The Jedi have lost so much, but hopefully we can salvage the Order and prevent its demise."

"I will join you, as well," Bultar Swan added with a nod.

"As will I," Roblio Darte agreed.

Aayla nodded her head to all four Masters, relief filling her entire being. "Thank you…all of you."

Choi nodded, looking at the Twi'lek Jedi for a long moment before his wizened old eyes fell upon her companions, "It is an interesting group you have gathered, Knight Secura: a Jedi Padawan, a former Captain of the Grand Army, an unhinged pilot…and a man capable of fighting an Imperial Acolyte on equal ground."

"It's good to see you again, Master Choi," Ahsoka replied with a nod of respect as she entered the chamber from the direction of the medical room.

"How is Master Wezz?" Roblio asked.

"She's stable; she just needs rest…" the young woman replied as she took a seat on the other side of the chamber, "…I have salved and bandaged her wounds. She has a broken rib, several more are cracked, her lungs have suffered light burns…but a dosage of bacta will help heal the wounds. I have done all that I can, but I would feel better if you checked her, Master Swan."

The older healer nodded her head with a smile, "I will do so, young Tano."

"I am an unhinged pilot?" Celeste murmured rhetorically with a shake of her head.

Rex shook his head in bemusement, but said nothing.

Aayla looked around, "It's a long story. But our 'unhinged pilot', as you call her, is a fellow Jedi and the other is a Shinobi."

"A Shinobi?" Darte frowned at the name, "I have never heard of any such order."

"They kept themselves secretive…" Aayla stated, looking in the direction of the cockpit, "…originally, they were clan-oriented armies of assassins and mercenaries who became the defensive forces for entire nations. They fought each other for centuries, and were only just uniting during Naruto's lifetime."

Celeste piped in from her leaning place against the bulkhead, "Shinobi were a people different from us Jedi in many ways. They did not believe in light and dark, instead believing that it was the actions of the individual who decided their fate. They were brought up and trained as a martial order, as warriors instead of monks."

"That is all that we can tell you…" Aayla cut in lightly, and both Celeste and Ahsoka nodded in agreement, "…if you wish to know anything else, then you will have to ask him."

"Is he looking to rebuild his order?" Darte asked with a frown, "From what we have seen, Aayla, you must have trained under him in at least some of his people's skills and abilities."

"He has taught us in his peoples abilities…" Celeste allowed, "…however, he has not asked us to relinquish our ideals as Jedi. In fact, he has not attempted to turn us to his people's ways of thinking at all. As far as Naruto is concerned, he will be the last Shinobi…but he is more than willing to teach anyone his people's abilities and skills, so long as they show themselves worthy."

"And he considers you three worthy?" Choi asked.

"He taught us, didn't he?" Ahsoka replied with a smirk.

* * *

Naruto sat in the coordinator's chair, completely still. His eyes were closed, his sheathed katana leaning against him as he meditated, the recent turn of events being the most prevalent scenes before his mind's eye. He replayed the battle in the mine shaft, moment by moment…and still, he saw that same face every single time.

For nearly a year, he had considered himself to be the last of his kind, the only Shinobi who had traversed the stars. Now, it seemed he was wrong. There was another of his kin out here in the eternal starry darkness, and it had to be **him** of all people! He and Sasuke had been brothers once, long ago…but a wish for revenge that was acted upon more often than not led to a terrible conclusion. This was the man who had everything stolen from him, and in return he stole everything from Naruto. Naruto had sought his revenge with the same grim determination Sasuke had, and he had thought it was done.

Now that he saw that his revenge hadn't been completed…did he want to pursue it, still? Did he long to track Sasuke down and make him pay? Naruto thought about it for a long moment, before blowing out a breath in exasperation. Once, when he had thought that his revenge had been carried out, there was no feeling of victory…just a hollow emptiness. He saw now that revenge was meaningless: supposedly carrying it out taught him that.

Even if he carried out his revenge, the ones he loved would not come back. He no longer dreamed of Sasuke's death every night, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't beat the crap out of him the next time he saw him. It looked like he was being manipulated as well, which would make the beating all the more satisfying.

'_It's __not __the destination __that gives a Shinobi's life meaning, it's __the journey; that's what the Pervy Sage always said…'_Naruto thought to himself in reflection of his life prior to this enormous galaxy that was now his home.

Naruto was amazed at how true Jiraiya's words now rang to him. Even in his quest for revenge, it had been the journey that drive him forward…and once he thought he reached his destination, there was no solace to be had, no great feeling of achievement or victory. All he found at the end was an unanswered question: is this all there is?

Now, though, since he had learned this hard lesson, he had rebuilt both himself and his life, and gained new comrades, new precious people that were worth living for. His purpose was the same as before he became revenge-driven: to protect that which is precious to him, and he was going to make **damn **sure he did not lose any precious people ever again.

"You appear to be deep in thought, young one," a crackled old masculine voice spoke, pulling him out of his reverie.

Naruto opened his eyes to look upon one of the Jedi he had saved: Tsui Choi, if he remembered the name right. He was a small creature, reptilian in appearance with scaly skin of bluish-green, and claws on his hands and feet. He had never seen such a creature before, but considering he had only been roaming the galaxy for a year that wasn't much of a surprise, and of course, remembering the crew of the Uhumele, seeing new sentient races no longer surprised him, either.

"I suppose so…" Naruto replied with a reflective sigh, "…Master Tsui Choi, if I remember correctly?"

"Indeed, you do," the small Jedi replied.

"Aayla speaks very highly of you…" Naruto added as he nodded in respect, "…says that you are perhaps one of the eldest and wisest of the Jedi."

"No one is truly wise," Choi replied.

Naruto snorted good-naturedly, "Spoken like a truly wise man."

"I suppose," Choi replied with a chuckle, "So tell me, if you will: what brings about such melancholy reflection in one so young?"

Naruto smiled sadly, "Just remembering an old master's words about our journeys being more defining to whom we are than our destinations, is all."

After a few moments' pause, Naruto asked, "So, has Aayla told you anything about me?"

"She has only told me the name of your Order: the Shinobi. I know nothing else of you except what I have seen with my own eyes. Aayla says that it is not her place to say more, but yours alone," Choi replied as he hobbled over to the chair across from his and jumped onto it, making himself comfortable in the oversized piece of furniture.

"Not her place, huh?" Naruto asked with a weak chuckle, "I suppose although she has learned a thing or two from me, deep down, she'll always have the heart of a Jedi. For that I am grateful: having that heart gives her mercy and compassion, not the ruthlessness of killers like me. I thought I was the last of my kind, or at least the only one travelling the space ways. I learned not two hours ago that I was wrong."

"That man who killed Master Arena…" Choi inquired, "…is he of your order, as well?"

"He is…" Naruto replied, "…his name is Sasuke Uchiha, of the infamous Uchiha Clan. We were once brothers-in-arms, but ambitions and wishes have ways of destroying old bonds…and his wish of revenge consumed him."

"There is more to your tale, I'd wager," the little master frowned as he perched himself on the chair across from the one Naruto sat upon.

Naruto emitted a humourless chuckle, "Yes…there is: a story of loss, grief, betrayal and vengeance."

"I will not press you…" Choi said with a bow of his head, "…and from what little I have heard, more than one Jedi owe you their life, as do I and those who survived that massacre. Please know that I would be honoured to call such a man as you my friend…and I hope that you will continue to be our friend and ally in the dark times ahead."

Naruto smiled and nodded his head, "You have me as a friend and ally, Master Choi…and perhaps with time, I will one day tell you the story of my people."

"That, I think, is a story for me to look forward to, young one…" the wise old creature returned, "…but onto other, more pressing concerns. This fellow Shinobi, Sasuke Uchiha: what can we expect from him?"

Naruto seemed to think for a moment, closing his eyes and leaning back into the chair, "He is considered one of the most powerful Shinobi in a generation, a master of his family's techniques and abilities. He is clever, cunning, a strategist with an unbreakable will and a cold demeanour. Anything he sets his mind on, he can achieve…and if he has joined the Empire, then they have gained a very powerful weapon."

Master Tsui Choi looked grave as he listened to the young man's words, "And you?"

Naruto sighed, "Only a handful of creatures can stand against him on even footing…but I believe I am one such creature."

* * *

Slowly Sia'lan Wezz opened her eyes. Immediately feeling the dull, throbbing pain in her torso and abdomen, the young master looked down to see that her armoured clothing and utility belt had been removed. In its place was a simple white gown. She felt the unmistakable bindings of bacta rap, and could smell the unmistakable odours of disinfectant.

She was in a medical centre, most likely the medical room within the freighter upon which she and her fellows had made their escape. Memories of the battle returned to her slightly fogged mind, and she felt the wound in her chest pulse at the recollection of the tip of a crimson bladed lightsaber piercing it.

Sia'lan cursed her stupidity and inexperience. Vader had come for them, mocked them, and she had taken the bait. She had charged right at him like some greenhorn Padawan, uncaring that she had left herself wide open when she engaged Vader. She had allowed her anger to overrule her judgment, and had nearly paid the ultimate price. If Knight Secura hadn't intervened, then she would have been the first casualty of that battle.

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but smile as she leaned back into her bed, hand over her eyes to shield them from the lights above. Her master had always told her that she was a little too hot-headed for her own good. That she needed to take a step back and look at a situation before rushing headlong into it. At the time she had been offended, arguing with him that he was wrong, but now…now she regretted not listening to him when she was younger.

"Ah, you are awake," a familiar female voice spoke up, grabbing Sia'lan's attention.

She looked over to see Master Swan entering the room, dressed in her cream tunic and pants as she walked up to Wezz. The younger master attempted to sit up to greet the older woman, but was stopped when a gentle hand to her chest pushed her back down onto her bed, "Don't strain yourself. Young Ahsoka would be most displeased if she found you reopened the wounds that she worked very hard to close."

"Ahsoka," Sia'lan frowned at the familiar ring of the name, and then she remembered, "Anakin Skywalker's old apprentice, she is alive?"

"Indeed, she is…" Bultar Swan nodded as she checked the young woman's bandaged injuries over, "…alongside Knight Secura and another young Jedi named Celeste Morne. It is an interesting band of people we have been saved by, wouldn't you agree?"

Sia'lan nodded her head in agreement, before a thought hit her, "I never took her as the type to become a healer; always thought she was too impatient."

"As did I…" Bultar allowed as she continued to examine Ahsoka's handiwork, nodding to herself every now and then, "…but it appears all she needed was the right teacher. Some of the dressing is a little rushed, but besides that, she has bandaged and set your wounds extraordinarily well for someone of her limited experience."

Sia'lan did little more than nod her head.

Bultar sighed, "Thank you for your aid against Arena. I have a feeling that if you weren't there to stop him, I wouldn't have left that chamber alive."

"Too many of us are dead already," Wezz replied. "The last thing I want to see is those of us remaining killing each other."

"You were reckless, though," the elder master chastised, to which Sia'lan could only nod in shame, "…if you weren't pulled away by Knight Secura at the last moment, you probably would have died there also."

Sia'lan did not reply for a moment, "I know…but when I saw him…" she paused, collecting her thoughts and continuing through the heavy feeling that seemed to permeate her being, "…all I could think about was the wish to cut his head off. I just…saw red. I know the code, I know the drill, but at that moment all I felt was rage…and hatred…" her voice took on a grittier quality as her hands clenched into fists and her face slowly contorted in anger with each word uttered, "…I hate him for what he had helped do to us. He was supposed to be one of us…and yet…he helped Palpatine slaughter us like cattle! He stole everything from us! He even struck **younglings** down!"

Her voice was cracking, and Bultar could do little else but put a comforting hand on the younger woman's shoulder, letting her know that she was there. She watched as a tear slid down the young woman's face, "I know, child. I know."

"I'm unworthy of being a Jedi," Sia'lan replied, hanging her head in shame, her eyes closed as silent tears continued to flow.

Swan looked at the younger woman with nothing but compassion, "My dear, take comfort in this: you are not the only Jedi who is experiencing such feelings during these evil times. There must be a lot of survivors out there who feel the same way, and who don't know what to do with such feelings. The meeting in that mine shaft confirmed that to me…seeing such a man as Master Arena…broken…losing all faith in the Jedi way…and willing to turn to the Dark Side to have vengeance…"

Swan trailed off, as if reflecting on her own observations before speaking up again a few moments later, still having Sia'lan's attention, "Order 66 had broken Arena, just like it has broken many others. I have felt the things you're feeling – the anger, the helplessness, the despair. I can't imagine anyone who survived Order 66 walked away unchanged. We've all been broken. There will be questions that will go forever unanswered…but the question we must now ask ourselves is: What will we do? Will we give up, like Koffi Arena? Or…will we pick up the pieces, put them back together…or maybe even use those pieces to build something completely new, like Aayla Secura and her friends seem to be doing?"

Swan paused for a few moments to once more allow her words to sink into her young patient's mind before speaking up once more, "We have all suffered young one. How we put ourselves back together is what will separate and distinguish us. However…" Master Swan's visage took on a more cheerful expression, "…enough of such talk for now. All you need to worry about at the moment is recovering your strength. So rest for now."

Sia'lan simply nodded, and Bultar helped her get comfortable before making her way to the exit, allowing the hydraulic doors to open before coming to a stop, "We are being taken to another conclave, this time on Kashyyyk. Knight Secura has assured us that the survivors of the Order will be in full attendance…and this one will not attract the attention of the Sith or their minions."

"I hope so," Sia'lan allowed.

* * *

It was a further three days of travel before they reached Kashyyyk. Celeste pushed the engines of the _Will of Fire _to their limits for at least half of the journey in order to make it in time for the conclave. The atmosphere hadn't been tense, but it had been quiet, many of the masters had isolated themselves in different sections of the ship, being left to their own devices and meditating in their thoughts, hoping to gain a greater sense of communion with and guidance through the Force.

Naruto stood behind Aayla's chair, watching as she piloted their ship closer and closer to the lush green and blue orb which was Kashyyyk. His eyes took in the view as the planet grew from the size of a small tennis ball to almost encompassing the frontal screen of the cockpit. There wasn't much traffic around the planet, but it seemed like there was a serious military presence. He scouted at least three warships since they left hyperspace, and he knew there were probably more.

"That's a lot of fleet activity," Naruto muttered.

"The Wookiees were one of the few factions who publically opposed the Empire…" Aayla explained as she continued to fly, "…they were among the few who didn't believe the propaganda about the Jedi, and offered sanctuary from the Empire to any who needed it. This obviously didn't go unnoticed, and the Empire launched an invasion. It was supposed to be a long and bloody battle, and the Wookiees didn't surrender until they began bombarding their settlements from orbit."

"And…we're going to hold a conclave there?" Naruto frowned, clearly confused at the logic behind selecting the meeting place.

"It would be the last thing the Empire would expect…" Celeste said with a nod, "…and the Empire probably doesn't have much of a presence on the surface, considering the heavy forest and deadly wildlife. I'm guessing the bulk of their forces here will be part of the Imperial Fleet, and considering it's been a year since the rebellion, they'll probably be a little lax in their security."

Naruto sighed, "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"That, we will…" Aayla nodded, "…preparing to enter the atmosphere on the night side of the planet. Any sign of nearby Imperial activity?"

"None at all…" Celeste replied after a while, "…it looks like we're in the clear, nearest warship is docked at the orbital base on the light side of the planet."

Aayla nodded, and took the _Will of Fire _down towards the surface, aiming for the settlement where the conclave was scheduled to be held. Naruto watched as fire licked across the windshield, attempting to destroy them but proving ineffective against his ships anti-atmospheric shields. Soon, the darkness of space was replaced with clear blue sky as they continued to descend; he saw a near endless mass of green forests below him, the trees bigger than any he had ever before seen.

"Beautiful," he murmured.

Aayla smiled, "Wait until you see it up close."

"I think we should let the Masters know that we'll be arriving soon," Celeste observed as she unstrapped herself from her crash-webbing.

"An excellent idea…" Naruto replied as he reached past Aayla and pressed the rune for the ships communications system, setting it to ship only before unhooking the corded speaker from its place,"…this is the Captain speaking. As you have no doubt _felt _we have just entered the atmosphere of Kashyyyk, and we are preparing to land within the next minute or two. That means that it is time to stop being unsociable and get the hell out of my cargo hold! Come on, everybody out!"

Aayla shot him with a half glare, which Naruto simply shrugged at, "What? It's the truth, isn't it? They were all being antisocial hermits!"

"Naruto," she said with a firm voice.

"Yes?"

"The comm. Is. Still. On," she murmured with an edge to her voice, showing her annoyance.

Naruto looked down at the device, noticing that his thumb was still pressed on the send button, "Oops," he offered with a sheepish chuckle.

Celeste's sniggering in the background didn't help. Rex's echoing laughter didn't help much either. He also swore he could hear Ahsoka laughing alongside her protector.

Aayla's glare was the most terrifying of all, and Naruto managed a truly sheepish look before sighing in defeat, "I'm not getting any tonight, am I?"

She crossed her arms across her chest in a huff, "What do you think?"

"I apologise?" He said it a little too quickly, and immediately winced.

Aayla sighed, "I need you to do me a favour, Naruto."

Naruto was silent for a moment, "You want to keep our relationship hidden?"

"Just for right now…" she replied, leaning back against the chair and feeling her beloved place his arms around her in an embrace. She didn't mind, feeling that the masters were still in the cargo hold, "…this conclave will be important. The survival of the Jedi Order rests on it, and I don't want them to start bickering over me breaking some stupid rule…or a dozen stupid rules," she muttered the last bit with some annoyance.

Naruto smiled a little mischievously, "I'm definitely not getting any tonight, then?"

She sighed and spoke in a pleading tone, "Naruto, please-"

"I promise," he replied before she could finish, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her right lekku. "We'll keep it secret for now. Like you said, there are more pressing issues at hand than us."

"Thank you," Aayla replied, placing a hand on his arm, "I will tell them, and if they cannot accept what we have then I will leave the Jedi Order…but now is not the time for that."

"You're willing to leave the Order?" Naruto asked in mild surprise, "Aayla, life as a Jedi is all you've ever really known. Your main purpose for so long has been to be a Jedi."

"_You_are my main purpose now," she replied without a hint of doubt, "It will hurt me to leave the Order, but it would hurt even more to leave you. If I had to choose between my life as a Jedi and my love for you then I choose you…without hesitation and without regret!"

"I hope it won't come to that…" Naruto replied, "…maybe they can be persuaded to drop a few rules in their code. I know you, and leaving the Order _will_hurt you. I don't want you to go through such pain on my account."

"I love your optimism…" she replied with a wistful smile, "…but the Code has been a part of the Jedi way of life for millennia; it's engrained into the very being of the Order. It cannot be changed just like that. That's the reason why Master Vos decided to leave, and the reason Masters Tra'Saa and Tholme keep their relationship secret. Besides, can you say that you would leave me?"

Naruto shook his head as five single words, firm and final, left his lips, "Never in a million years."

Celeste remained quiet, knowing that it was not her place to even speak at this moment. Instead the Jedi Shadow rose from her seat and made to leave, but as she opened and closed the door between the cockpit and the rest of the ship she noticed that they were no longer alone. She looked down in surprise to see the diminutive form of Tsui Choi, walking stick in hand, standing beside the entrance.

The Aleena looked up at her for a long moment, before walking back down the corridor. Celeste, unable to silently allow his eavesdropping to pass, followed him. It seemed that the diminutive Jedi had predicted this, for he sat on the table in the common room and waited for her to take the seat across from him.

There was silence for a long moment, before the small master spoke, "Tell me their story."

Celeste hesitated for a long moment, before complying with the old creature's request.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I will admit that I am conflicted with how I'm going to have the Naruto/Aayla relationship be thought out off by the Jedi. I don't want this to be a story where the Jedi suddenly forsake millennia of creed and code just because the main character found the love of his/her life like we see in so many fanfiction pieces. That might be all well and good to a reader or a writer with an overactive imagination but in the real world such tradition is not so easy to give up on. There was a reason why Anakin and Padme kept their relationship secret after all._


	30. Conclave of Kashyyyk: The Arrival

**_Chapter 29_**

**_Conclave of Kashyyyk_**

**_The Arrival_**

Even for Naruto, who considered any landing that you could walk away from a good one, landing the ship on Kashyyyk's surface was proving to be a problem. There was very little in the way of open space to actually land a ship the size of the _Will of Fire_ in. Instead, all he could see was the ceiling of a dense mass of trees, each of which was much larger than any tree he had ever seen, all with thicker trunks than even the huge fire trees he remembered from his home world. To add to Naruto's current dilemma, all of them were growing in such close proximity to each other that he could only imagine a surface that was pitch black due to the inability of the rays of Kashyyyk's sun to penetrate the impossibly thick foliage and actually reach the ground.

It took them about an hour of hovered flight and scanning to find a patch of flat ground just large enough to set the _Will of Fire _down on…and even then, Naruto had to manoeuvre through a "window" in the foliage to reach it. As Naruto zigged and zagged through the pseudo-passageway in the trees, he and the others felt a slight tremor here and there as the ship's side would impact against the side of one of the huge trees. Even with Aayla helping him to fly, the difficulty of the projected flight path was still staggering, to say the least.

Aayla grit her teeth as she made a slight change to the control yoke, slowly changing the ship's trajectory away from yet another tree. Naruto decided that it was probably for the best if Celeste took over at the pilot's station. He called her over and rose from his chair, allowing her to take the pilot's seat while he moved to stand behind Aayla, placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm. Rex was at damage control, and Ahsoka was seated in one of the cockpit's passenger seats, ready to assist if need be. Flanking Naruto's right were Masters Choi and Swan.

"Keep it together, Aayla…" Naruto encouraged softly, "…you're doing great; we're almost there."

Aayla didn't reply, but he could feel her relax ever so slightly under his touch. Finally, after much bated breath from both of the current pilots, as well as everyone else onboard, the ship touched down and the engines shut off. Aayla sat back in her chair, taking a deep, calming breath before looking back at the two masters and smiling.

"Welcome to Kashyyyk," she said with as much "gusto" as she could muster, but it only ended up sounding like relief.

Master Choi nodded his head in Aayla's direction before turning to leave the cockpit, Swan offering a wan smile before she followed the Aleena Jedi Master's path. Aayla frowned at the old creature's behaviour, but didn't have long to contemplate what it meant. Celeste caught her attention as she stood up and stretched.

"We need to get the camo-gear out…" she said, "…make sure that no one sees us."

There was a unanimous agreement amongst the crew. Rex nodded before moving out of the cockpit, the rest of the crew in tow as Aayla remained behind for a few more moments, shutting down everything but the most essential of the ship's systems. If trouble did find them, she wanted the ship to be ready for takeoff as soon as possible.

She walked down the ramp of their ship, garbed in her favourite tight leather pants and a top which left her midrift and arms up to her shoulder bare. She had opted for her older style of dress over the Shinobi attire she had taken to wearing because of the hot, humid climate of Kashyyyk. Celeste, Ahsoka, Sia'lan, Roblio and Bultar separated into a large semicircle, levitating the camouflage rigging over the ships frame, gently setting it down under the calm instruction of Naruto and Rex who were standing on the dorsal section of the craft, making minor adjustments before jumping off.

"That should keep us from being spotted from the air," Sia'lan said as she sat on a large, flat-topped rock to catch her breath, still recovering from her injuries.

"But not from the ground…" Rex replied with a frown as he looked upon the ship, "…I will stand guard here until you all return."

"Thank you, Rex…" Aayla said as she gripped the latch of her backpack and slung it over her shoulders, "…keep an eye open for any wildlife. There are a lot of big and nasty predators in these forests."

Rex nodded in response, "Don't worry about me, my lady. The weapon systems of this young girl here will be more than enough to deal with anything."

The group moved on, travelling in single file across the forest floor, which was covered by the bared roots of the huge trees, creating a winding path of naturally created wooden bridges and pathways a few feet above the dense undergrowth of the jungle floor. Above them was a just as dense canopy, with only the occasional ray of sunlight streaming through the glades.

They didn't know exactly where the conclave would gather; only that it was to convene near a small Wookiee settlement, nearly ten kilometres away from their current position. As such, Naruto had decided to put his Shinobi skills to good use and act as the group's scout. Leaping high into the forest, he jumped from tree-branch to tree-branch well above the group's heads, keeping an eye out for any large predators or clumps of animals. Their latest companions had been briefed on his abilities during the flight from Kessel to Kashyyyk, so they weren't as surprised by his display of abilities, though some viewed him with subtle suspicion.

The diminutive Master Tsui Choi led the remaining group across the moss-covered tree roots, Bultar Swan and Roblio Darte following him. Next in line were Ahsoka and Sia'lan Wezz, with Celeste and Aayla bringing up the rear of the column, eyes alert for anything Naruto may have missed. An hour into their trek, it had been quiet and serene, no big predators seemed to be nearby. Celeste took the initiative to break the silence that had overtaken them all.

"How many do you think will come?" she asked as they continued to walk, scaling a steep root and jumping a small drop to continue, "Jedi survivors, I mean."

"Master Vos said that most of the Order was going to attend," Aayla shrugged in response, "His best hope is a few hundred."

"So few?" Celeste asked in trepidation.

"We had already lost more than half our number to the Clone Wars. As if that wasn't enough, when Order Sixty-Six was implemented, almost all of the rest of us were slaughtered in the span of a few hours. The possibility of several hundred survivors is probably wishful thinking," the Twi'lek replied sadly, pushing past a large plant which had grown higher than the tree root they were marching across.

Despite her sadness, however, the beautiful Twi'lek managed a brave smile, "Still, one can hope."

"Yes…" Celeste agreed, voice a wistful whisper, "…one can hope…and one can believe that more of our comrades still walk this plane."

"I'm sorry for seeming so pessimistic, Celeste," Aayla apologised.

"Not your fault, Aayla…" Celeste replied as she looked up to the canopy and frowned, "…hmm…Naruto seems to have stopped."

Aayla followed her friend's gaze, just in time to see a figure fall from the tree tops at high speed, landing on a root right beside the party, which caused them all to stop and turn. The clone didn't wait for them all to notice him, he just spoke. "We've got trouble up ahead."

Before anyone could speak, Aayla was on the move, hopping from the root the group was on to the one the clone was standing on and moving at high speed towards the huge trunk. Pumping chakra into the soles of her feet she scaled the vertical surface with little effort, making it to Naruto's elevation and jogging across a thick tree branch to where he was crouching.

She placed a hand on his shoulder to let him know it was her before coming down into a crouch beside him, eyes alert as she watched the canopy.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"There's something in the trees," he replied, eyes of liquid sapphire snapping back and forth.

"What did it look like?" she asked.

He frowned for a moment, "A walking carpet."

It took a few seconds of silence before she replied to his statement, "What?"

"I'm just telling you what I saw," he replied with a shrug, though the confusion was written on his face, "Or rather, a swinging carpet. It swung right past me on some vines."

"A Wookiee," she said after a moment of thought. It made sense. She had heard more than a few compare a Wookiee to a walking carpet the first time they met one and plenty who still made that comparison after, "You must have seen a Wookiee."

"That was a Wookiee?" Naruto asked with surprise, and Aayla had to remember who she was talking too.

"I keep forgetting that you're from an isolated backwater…" she sighed and chuckled in light amusement with a shake of her head, "…after all, you mistook me for an angel the first time we met."

"What are you talking about by 'mistook you'?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smirk, "I still think you're an angel."

She smiled unconsciously at that, but soon caught herself on, "Flattery isn't getting you anywhere today, Naruto."

He made a slightly disappointed hum in the back of his throat before his eyes once again scanned the forest canopy, "So…if it is a Wookiee, how are we going to be able to signal them?"

"We don't need to…" Aayla sighed as she stood up and raised her hands in surrender, "…they already know we're here. Stand up slowly, don't draw any weapons, and raise your hands."

Naruto hesitated for a moment, before obeying her command, standing up and raising his gloved hands in a motion of either surrender or to show that they meant no harm. It didn't take long for their stalkers to make themselves known. A heavy thump behind them marked the presence of a Wookiee, and as Naruto turned he could do nothing but whistle in surprise.

The creature before them was huge, towering over him at just over seven feet in height. A huge bipedal form covered in thick dark brown fur, but he could make out the black orbs of the creatures eyes, the sharp flesh-cleaving teeth as it pulled its mouth back in a snarl and the sharp black claws elongated at the ends of its long arms. Another thump made the duo aware that another had landed right behind them. As Naruto looked around, he saw at least four more hidden in the foliage, aiming at them with crossbows.

Naruto immediately felt respect for these creatures, after all it took some ability in stealth and subterfuge to be able to sneak up on a Shinobi, though he guessed these creatures knew their forests as well as he did his own in the Land of Fire and that did indeed give them an undeniable advantage.

He looked down in time to see nearly two dozen more of the giant, shaggy humanoids surrounding the rest of the group, who had correlated together into a defensive circle, lightsabers out but not yet ignited. Naruto was guessing that there were more in the canopy, readying their long-range weapons to snipe anyone who attempted to fight…or run.

"Let me do the talking," Aayla whispered to him, to which Naruto did little more than nod his head. When it came to times like this, he would probably always allow his other half to do the talking. As she said, from the point of view of everyone else around him, he was from an isolated backwater. He felt no anger or shame at hearing this, for it was technically the truth.

Aayla took three steps forward before coming to a halt. Naruto couldn't help it when he tensed, she looked so small and fragile when compared to the Wookiee before her, and one swipe of its long arms could probably kill, if not horribly maim her at least. But he bit his tongue and waited, trusting in her judgment to see them through…yet his body was coiled like a spring, ready to jump to her defence, if necessary.

She spoke slowly, but without fear, "My name is Aayla Secura. I am a Knight of the Jedi Order, here for the impending conclave."

The Wookiee replied, much to Naruto's surprise, with a series of growls, grunts and what he could only describe as…oscillating groans.

"My companions are also Jedi…" Aayla replied without missing a beat, as though the Wookiee had actually spoken to her, "…or, as in the case of the man beside me, those we trust with our lives."

The Wookiee seemed to think for a moment, before uttering a long low pitched howl.

Aayla smiled at him, "Thank you."

The Wookiee grunted in response. Naruto realized that this was the language and speech of the Wookiee. He found the phenomenon of their communication to be quite intriguing.

Aayla turned back to Naruto, "He said his group will lead us to where we need to go."

Naruto shook his head before looking back at Aayla with a grin, "You are awesome, have I ever told you that?"

Aayla raised her brow at that, but a small smile spread across her features, "Not lately, no."

"Then you're awesome…" he replied, grin still in place, "…I suppose I don't need to do anymore recon, huh?"

"Well, they do know more about this place than you, right?"

Naruto nodded in response before looking down at the still-tense standoff below, "I think they need to be informed before someone does something stupid."

Aayla followed his gaze, and sighed, "I agree…" before grumbling out, "…they should know better."

The two of them jumped off the branch, knowing that the Wookiees were right behind them, using their claws to scale down the trunks of the huge trees as they slid down towards the forest floor. Naruto hit the ground first, skidding across a small surface of tree root before coming to a stop just opposite his allies.

Aayla was right behind him, and just after she regained her footing, there was an echoing howl from high above. The Wookiees surrounding their group looked up, then backed away slowly. Naruto could feel the gazes of the snipers as they lowered their crossbows and descended from their perches to join them, the numbers immediately swelled from twenty to just over fifty. Naruto found his degree of respect and admiration for this race of people to be growing in leaps and bounds; even he couldn't detect their full company – he would have guessed that there were thirty at most.

Aayla spoke to the group, "Their leader says he will take us to the conclave."

Tsui Choi nodded his head, "Well done, young one. Well done."

* * *

The party pressed on, this time with an additional fifty odd members as the Wookiee platoon/hunting-party abandoned its usual patrol route to guide their current charges to the conclave. Naruto was now walking at the end of the group, Aayla and Celeste in front of him, and at least three Wookiee scouts behind him as they continued their trek.

They kept walking for the better part of the day, and it was not until night had fallen that they had reached their destination, not that they could really tell, as it was so dark below the treetops, anyway. Once they were close enough to continue without an escort, the Wookiees peeled off and disappeared into the shadows of the twilight forest. There was a moment of surprised silence amongst the others in the group, but the silence was short lived.

Lightsabers ignited all around them, illuminating the area as they glowed various shades of green, amber, blue and silver. A quick mental count revealed thirteen lightsabers, their wielders hooded and cloaked as they surrounded the newcomers. Naruto tensed, as did the rest of his companions, before Master Choi's voice could be heard over the continuous hum of the legendary weapons.

"I am Jedi Master Tsui Choi, with me are Masters Bultar Swan, Roblio Darte and Sia'lan Wezz as well as Jedi Knights Aayla Secura and Celeste Morne, and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano…" He said in a booming voice that had no business coming from the lungs of one of his small stature, "…we are here for a conclave, so if you are fellow Jedi, then lower your weapons. If you are our enemy, then prepare for battle."

There was a moment of tense silence before one of their would-be assailants unlit his or her lightsaber. This was followed by the one beside the figure, and one by one the others turned their weapons off until darkness once again crept upon the jungle. The group had come together then, right behind Master Choi, just as one of the Jedi walked foreword, tall but definitely feminine in appearance.

The leading Jedi raised reddish hands to pull back her hood, and Naruto was surprised to see a woman that was apparently a Togruta like Ahsoka, but with some differences: while the basic colorings and pigmentations on her face and body matched Ahsoka's own, this woman's lekku and the dual horns on the top of her head, which Naruto would later know were called "montrals", were both longer than Ahsoka's; Naruto guessed that this denoted physical maturity among the Togruta. Unlike Ahsoka's sparkling blue eyes, this woman's eyes were jet-black, from the iris into the pupil. Unlike Ahsoka, who could be the personification of teenage precociousness at times, this woman carried herself with an air of dignity, authority and grace, giving her a unique, ethereal beauty. She was tall, and well-shaped from Naruto's estimation; it was difficult to tell with the robes she wore.

Tsui Choi bowed his head, as did every other being bearing the rank of Jedi present, "Master Shaak Ti."

Shaak Ti bowed in response, though hers was not as deep, "Master Tsui Choi, as well as Masters Bultar Swan, Roblio Darte and Sia'lan Wezz, Knight Aayla Secura, and Padawan Ahsoka Tano. It brings me great joy to see you all alive and safe."

She saw Naruto and Celeste then, eyes widening a little before narrowing as she studied their forms and spoke in a soft voice, "I do not know either of you."

"Their names are Naruto Uzumaki and Celeste Morne, Master Ti," Swan replied after a moment of tense silence, "They are allies who came to our aid during our greatest time of need. Naruto's people are also force-sensitive, but call themselves Shinobi. He has been protecting and aiding Knights Secura and Morne, as well as Padawan Tano over the last twelve months. As for Celeste Morne, she is a Jedi from centuries past, trapped within a Sith hibernation chamber until recently."

"Shinobi…and Jedi from our far-flung past…" Shaak Ti frowned in deep thought before looking upon the smaller form of Master Choi, "…much intrigue, you have brought to this meeting, Master Choi."

"I can vouch for both of them," Aayla spoke up, "Naruto Uzumaki saved my life on Felucia, and has since aided me and those around me. I can vouch for his character, and for where his allegiances lay. I can also vouch for Celeste Morne, who has become a close friend and strong ally over the many difficult months."

Shaak Ti looked at the younger woman for a long moment, "Are you positive of this, Knight Secura?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation.

Shaak Ti studied Aayla's form for a long moment, ascertaining her sincerity before turning around. The Jedi surrounding them, their forms hidden by robes and hoods, seemed to meld into the shadows of the forest, but Naruto knew that they were still there; unlike the Wookiees, he could feel them. The Togruta Jedi Master began walking, and the small group followed her lead.

As the group once again began walking, Naruto caught up with Aayla and tapped her on the shoulder, leaning down to whispering distance. "So who is this 'Shaak Ti' chick?"

She gave him a wry look, "She's a Jedi Master, and was a member of the Jedi High Council, our highest authority."

"Seriously?" the blond asked with a raised brow before looking over to study her, mainly the nice swaying of her hips as she walked, "Hmm…and here I was, thinking that everyone in power is usually really old. She doesn't look that old."

"She's not…" Aayla replied with a shake of her head, before developing an annoyed tick in her eyebrow as she noted where her love's eyes had wandered. She waited until everyone's attention had moved on before reaching over and flicking Naruto on the forehead, playfully but also pointedly, "…and just where do you think you're staring, hmm? You can stare at me all you want when we're done here, OK?"

"Yes, angel," he replied with a sheepish smile.

* * *

They reached their final destination half an hour later, a kilometre away from the Wookiee village. They found themselves deep within the forest, under a thick canopy along a small clearing. The gnarled roots of the surrounding trees seemed to create a natural circle of clear ground.

In this clearing, standing on the surrounding roots, were several Jedi; Naruto seemed to be able to feel the power radiating off of these individuals, and as he thought about it, he realized that he could feel the same power radiating off of his own companions, as well. Naruto gazed this way and that, drinking in details of those who were gathered, here. He noted the way they held themselves, the robes most of them wore, and then caught the unmistakable glint of lightsaber hilts on their utility belts, of all shapes and sizes.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the sight. There must have been two or three hundred Jedi in this clearing. He saw a variety of difference races; some he knew, others he didn't, of different genders and ages. He saw Humans, Twi'leks, Togruta, Zeltron, Ithorian, Bothan, Falleen, as well as beings of several other races. But at the same time he noticed that the majority of them couldn't be any older than children, teenagers and young adults.

A small group of children ran past their path, laughing and playing as they were chased in a game of tag. Naruto allowed himself to smile and feel lightened by their carefree attitudes. Even in such times of hardship, the innocence of a child was something to cherish. His opinion was definitely mirrored by his beloved, whose kind, serene smile seemed to light up the area surrounding her.

They had just made it down a tree root to the ground when Master Ti turned around, looking upon the group before opening her mouth to speak, "Masters Choi and Swan shall follow me. The rest of you will remain here for now."

With that, she turned to walk to the other side of the clearing, Masters Choi and Swan following her as she led them out of sight. Naruto, Aayla, Ahsoka and Celeste remained in place, watching as Master Darte saw a few people he knew in the crowd, and Master Wezz seemed to move to a spot apart from everyone else so that she could be by herself for a while.

Aayla smiled serenely as she sat on the edge of a root, her smile mirrored by Ahsoka and Celeste. Naruto smiled along with them; the mood seemed infectious at the moment.

"There are more of us alive than I thought," Aayla began in a hopeful and gratified tone.

"It's great to see, isn't it?" Ahsoka asked with a silly, childish grin.

"Indeed it is," Celeste agreed as she sat cross-legged on the ground, looking around at the mass of activity all around her. There were tents and mats set up across the ground, and under the above-ground roots. There were no fires set, nor anything which could reveal their location. There was only low-level lighting, and a few archaic torches were set here and there, tips covered in oil and set alight.

As the girls sat, each obviously looking around for anyone familiar, Naruto took this time to survey the mass of Jedi as they milled about: some remained on their own, meditating, while others were grouped together in clumps of as little as two or three to as large as a dozen, speaking with each other, embracing and throwing greetings around. The relief at seeing friends and comrades alive and safe, even if only met in passing, was thick in the air.

He watched their demeanours, the way they moved, their stances, and the weapons they carried. He had always thought this, ever since he met Dass and beyond: Aayla wasn't your average Jedi, after all.

"They remind me of Samurai," Naruto said to himself.

The three girls he had trained looked up at him as they heard him. It was Celeste who spoke, "What are Samurai, Naruto?"

"Samurai were considered a warrior culture back home. They were warriors who followed a strict code of conduct and ethics, and were also known for their skills with a sword…" Naruto explained as he sat down beside Aayla, "…it's just…now that I see so many Jedi, they remind me of Samurai: the way they stand and walk, and the way they continuously carry their lightsabers just like the Samurai carried their katanas."

The girls looked at him for a moment, but a male voice deep in the crowd caught their attention, "Hey, is that Naruto?"

Naruto turned around, recognising the voice as his eyes widened in surprise.

A female's voice was added to that of the male's, another familiar voice, "Isn't that Aayla and Celeste as well?"

Standing a good ten meters away from them was a duo of familiar faces, and Naruto couldn't help but grin as he started walking towards them. Dass Jennir had changed his look since the last time the Shinobi had seen him, having cut his whitish-grey hair short and shaving his stubble. He almost looked like a gentleman and not a hermit. In contrast, Crys Taanzer hadn't changed at all. Her hair was still a long mane of blonde locks, but unlike before, there was a light in her eyes and a glow about her.

He grabbed Dass in a bear hug, ignoring his grunt of surprise, before turning to Crys and embracing her, picking her up and twirling her around as she laughed lightly, "I don't believe it! It's great to see you two! Where's the rest of the crew?"

"They decided to remain with the ship until the conclave ends…" Dass explained as Crys embraced both Aayla and Celeste in friendly embraces before beginning to catch up with each other, "…the captain and the rest of them decided to allow the Jedi to do what they have to do. Good thing you guys came too; another few minutes and Crys would have probably ran."

"I was NOT going to run," Crys huffed in his direction, "I'm just not used to being around so many Jedi."

"Why are you out here?" Celeste asked, "Not that I mind seeing you again, but I didn't think you'd be so interested in a big Jedi gathering."

"She was reunited with her son," Dass answered with a playful smirk as the mother rounded on him, "We found him and a handful of younglings on an uncharted planet. They were being attacked by a bunch of crashed mercenaries; we landed, helped them and offered to take them somewhere safer."

"You found him?" Celeste asked with a grin.

The pilots smile was serene and peaceful as she nodded her head.

"That's wonderful!" Aayla smiled, hugging her friend again, "That's truly wonderful!"

"A happy ending, how about that?" Naruto asked rhetorically with a smile of his own.

"They were being watched over by a Padawan and Master duo; we took them aboard with us…" Dass continued to explain to Naruto as the three women continued rejoicing over the news that Crys had gotten her son back, "…the Jedi Master of the group, Master K'Kruhk, informed me of the Jedi Conclave here, and we convinced the captain to take us."

"He must have been _very_persuasive," Aayla suggested playfully.

"He was," Dass replied nonchalantly, "Master K'Kruhk was one of the most powerful Jedi in the Order who did not receive a seat on the High Council. Most speculated that by the next election he would probably have been granted one."

"What can you tell us about him?" Celeste asked.

"No pushover, I can tell you…" Crys said with a sigh, "…he's a Whipid; makes him naturally strong and durable compared to most other humanoid species, but he is definitely a Jedi who earned the rank of Master."

"He has a reputation as being strong, unbending, and wise beyond his age…" Dass added, knowing a great deal more about the Jedi Master in question than his companion, "…he was never one who believed violence solved much, and was always taking a step back to study a situation. If I remember, he was one of a handful of Jedi who were initially against the Clone Wars. He felt that there were too many anomalies at work; too many coinciding events which were far too hard to explain to merely be…coincidental."

"And he was right," Crys replied.

"So if someone tried to attempt an attack on the Sith and their empire, who would he side with?" Naruto asked.

"Now, that is the question…" Dass replied without a hint of sarcasm or whit. He was dead serious as he folded his arms, "…look around you, Naruto."

Naruto did so, and sighed at what he saw. The atmosphere could have been cut with a knife, it was so tense. The only real sounds he could hear were the crackles of the natural fires and the calling of the natural life around them. Even the younglings seemed to catch onto the situation, for they had stopped playing and laughing; they just remained in their groups, watched over by an adult.

"Do you see it?" Jennir asked.

"Yeah…" Naruto replied with a heavy sigh, "…yeah, I see it."

"We are in a dilemma, Naruto…" Dass explained as he sat down on a flat surfaced stone and looked his friend in the eye. "…these Jedi – they all know the Jedi Code; they know exactly what their response should be. But, we are not emotionless drones: we form attachments of our own. We form bonds of camaraderie, friendship and a sense of family with our fellow Jedi. Order Sixty Six robbed us of so many of those bonds and attachments…and a lot of those here are in indescribable pain."

Crys spoke up, eyes widening in horrific realisation at what her friend and fellow crew member was saying, "They're looking for a fight, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are…" Dass nodded his head, looking around, "…a lot of them are indeed looking for a fight. Many here want to strike back against the Empire; show them that we're not just a memory."

"That would be suicide…" Celeste said, frowning as she looked around, "…there's only…what, about a hundred and fifty, maybe two hundred of us left?"

"It would be a heroic last stand…something for the history books…" Aayla added in solemn agreement, "…but it would be futile and pointless. Maybe if we had a thousand we could storm Coruscant and wage war against the Sith, but-"

"We can't," Dass finished.

"You think they're going to reconvene the Jedi High Council?" Naruto asked as he sat down on a tree root opposite Dass.

"That's the logical conclusion…" Dass answered matter-of-factly, "…with only three of the current Council still living, though, they would need a few additional masters to fill the empty seats. That's probably why they've called the likes of Masters Choi, Swan and K'Kruhk to them: they're gathering the wisest and strongest survivors and putting them on the Council."

"Makes sense…" Aayla allowed, "…the remnants of the Order will need leadership. If it's not provided, then we'll be scattered, lost and begging for the Empire's Jedi hunters to pick us off one at a time."

"The question is what their next move will be…" Celeste sighed as she looked at the assembled group, "…will it be to declare war, or will it be to try and create some sort of underground to aid us against the Emperor's dogs?"

* * *

Master Tsui Choi sat on a chair, looking back and forth at those gathered together. They were inside a hollowed-out tree, the "chamber" that it provided easily being the same size as the old Jedi Council Chamber. Within the chamber were twelve seats in a horseshoe formation, seemingly created from the vines and bark of the natural creation that surrounded them. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Choi then considered those who had been summoned as he was: an assembly of Jedi, all Masters of considerable esteem but who had not previously been placed on the Jedi High Council, standing at nine of the provided seats – four to the left of the center, five to the right. Sitting on the central three chairs were the last surviving members of the leadership of the Jedi Order, the remnants of the Jedi High Council.

Master Yoda sat in the central chair, legs crossed and gimmer stick laying on his lap. The small green creature was by far the eldest of all the Jedi assembled; nearing nine-hundred years of age, he was one of the oldest living creatures in the known galaxy. He was considered the wisest of the Order, with both great compassion and an unshakable will. But looking upon this ancient creature, Master Choi had to struggle to hide his surprise. For the first time…maybe ever to Master Choi, Yoda looked old and worn, the warm grandfatherly sparkle he remembered in Yoda's eyes now replaced by a haunting sadness and what seemed to be regret and guilt…as though he had somehow failed greatly.

Sitting to his left was Master Shaak Ti. She was kind and knowledgeable, but she was also known to be firm and headstrong. She was famous for being one of only a select few Jedi to fight the infamous General Grievous and survive to tell the tale, though she never did…and nobody ever asked.

Sitting on Yoda's right was one of the most famous Jedi alive, known for his exploits during the war, which earned him the nickname of "The Negotiator". He was also known for being the only Jedi alive who fought a Sith… and not only survived the battle, but emerged victorious. Obi-Wan Kenobi looked as worn and weathered as the other two masters before them, not surprising considering the supposed "Chosen One" he had trained had turned into their most fearsome foe.

Choi looked at those present, seeing Bultar Swan flanking his left, but he also recognised others among the group. He saw the old, grizzled form of Master Tholme, one of Aayla's former Masters, with Master Tra'Saa, his partner and the teacher to Mace Windu. Master K'Kruhk stood beside them, being easily one of the tallest in attendance.

The others he also knew, more by reputation than by personal encounter.

The most famous was An'ya Kuro, also known amongst the Jedi as "The Dark Woman". She was considered by many to be one of the strongest Jedi in recent history, a powerful force user and a respected, if unorthodox, teacher. She had trained many apprentices and served in the Clone Wars with distinction as a spy, showing herself to be a master of infiltration and gathering high-quality intelligence.

Kai Hudorra was the next Jedi to catch his attention, a Bothan Jedi Master who was a well-known General during the war. He was able to use his considerable cunning and stealth to escape from the burning ruins of the Jedi Temple. There was a rumour that seemed to follow him wherever he went: that he abandoned his Padawan on Coruscant and left her to fend for herself…though the rumour was never confirmed.

Rahm Kota was the next Jedi he recognized. Kota was known as a respectable and honourable man who, like many other Masters and Knights, decided to become a General during the war. He served with honour and distinction, but decided to utilise volunteer soldiers instead of clones, having an instinctual mistrust of them and their dubious introduction as the Republic's Grand Army. How right he was in hindsight, even though many scoffed at his perspective at first.

Finally there was Jedi Master Fy-Tor-Ana, also recently gaining the name of "Lady Solace". She was known not as a General or warrior, but as an instructor at the Jedi Academy, and the youngest of the Jedi Masters that had assembled in that chamber. The young human woman had since used her status as a Jedi to create a sanctuary known as the "Jedi Asteroid". At least a dozen of the Jedi at the conclave arrived in her company.

Shaak Ti, seeing all of those requested were in attendance, rose from her chair and looked around at the assembly for a long moment before speaking, "Thank you all for coming, but I am afraid there will be little time for debate on the issue of reforming the Jedi High Council. Instead, we surviving members have already gathered and determined the identities of those whom we believe possess the ability and skill to lead the Jedi Order during this time."

Choi knew where this was going. There were nine masters in attendance, and there were nine vacant seats on the council. There were worse choices, he supposed; certainly all of those he saw there had proven themselves on and off the battlefield, mostly during the year after that horrendous order was enacted by their "loyal subordinates", and the events that followed, requiring all of them to fight off countless bounty hunters, dark Jedi and Sith, and what was now recognized as the legitimate Galactic government.

"We ask that those in attendance this day…comply with our decisions, and we beg you all to take up the seats offered before you on the Jedi High Council…" Shaak Ti finished as she sat down and waited, "…we will not place blame upon you if you should refuse, however…out of the surviving Masters of the Order, and after as much discussion as we could afford to engage in, we have decided that those of you in attendance are the best candidates. Fellow Masters, we need your wisdom, we need your experience…we need your help."

There was a long moment of hesitancy before the first Master, Kai Hudorra, sighed with a heavy breath and walked over to the chair beside Master Shaak Ti, sitting down on the naturally-made seat and waited. One by one, the others followed his example. Even Fy-Tor-Ana, who was obviously overwhelmed by the sudden position, took her place on the council, moved as the others were by Shaak Ti's gracious and humble plea. Choi and Swan were the last, taking the last chairs on either side of the chamber.

Silence fell upon the chamber as the nine new members of the Jedi High Council waited quietly in their seats, waiting for the senior Councillors to initiate this…session. Finally, Master Yoda rose from his chair, tapping his gimmer stick against the floor three times to gain his fellows' attention before speaking.

"Thank you, we do. Upon you, a large burden we have bestowed," the venerable old Master explained simply as he looked at the renewed Jedi High Council, "At a crossroads, the Jedi are…in open combat, face the Empire, do we? Or from the wrath, hide, and for the Galaxy's inevitable response, should we wait? Such a decision, we must make, today, and in the balance, the future of our Galaxy and the Jedi Order lies."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Not so much action this chapter, and there won't be much action for the next chapter or two either as the plot takes a few steps forward and the Jedi's next move will be revealed. Thank you to ncpfan as usual for doing the beta-reading, and thank you once again to the mass of reviews from the last chapter from everybody. I'll try and keep chapters coming at this pace, but I can't promise that update times will be consistent, 40hr a week jobs are a huge pain in the ass._


	31. Conclave of Kashyyyk: Jedi High Council

_**Chapter 30**_

_**Conclave of Kashyyyk**_

_**The Jedi High Council**_

It was amazing how, even in such times of darkness, one could see a light, a simple spark that overcame the murky, oppressive shadows that were the new status quo. Such a spark always seems to strengthen the good and righteous spirit, and bring hope to a person's heart. To those assembled, at this moment, that spark of light was watching the innocence of youth, the next generation of potential Jedi.

Aayla sat on an elevated root, acting as a sentry as she watched the ten younglings of the Soaring Hawkbat Clan rush around her, playing a game of tag, smiling and laughing all the while. Crys was sitting beside her, and Celeste was somewhere in the trees above. Aayla guessed that Celeste was probably trying to catch some sleep; it had been a long and arduous day, after all.

Across from them was the form of the children's caretaker, Chase Piru, a young Jedi Padawan who was the apprentice of the Clan Matriarch. Said matriarch, sadly, was killed when Order Sixty-Six was implemented. Chase looked just out of her teens: a human woman with dark skin and a bald head, the only strands of hair coming from a Padawan braid. The woman was sitting cross-legged on the ground, reading a story to three younglings, two of whom had already fallen asleep.

Aayla smiled softly at the scene before returning her attention to the more hyperactive children, and even before Crys pointed him out for her, she recognised the pilot's son. The boy had his father's strong physique, she guessed, but he had his mother's hair and eyes. The bonds between mother and son also seemed to still be firmly in place, with the five year old rushing to his mom's side when he saw her, chattering excitedly about something he and his friends had gotten involved in.

It was a good decision to take these children away from the main camp and to open ground where they could work off some of their stress and forget about what was happening. She wasn't too wary of predators; they weren't too far away from the camp and she could sense the presence of at least a dozen Wookiees in the trees above. She could give herself a brief respite knowing that they were safe here.

"Where did Naruto disappear to?" Crys asked as she took out a canteen and took a gulp of the water within before handing it over to Aayla, who took it gratefully.

"We're not joined at the hip, Crys," Aayla replied as she too took a quick gulp of the cool liquid, sighing in elation as she handed the half-full canteen back to the pilot.

The pilot gave her a wry smile, "I never said you were."

Aayla leaned back against the root, placing her hands behind her head and crossing her legs as she attempted to find a comfortable position to lay in, her body telling her that perhaps sleep wasn't such a bad idea.

She answered Crys with a tired yawn, "He said that the atmosphere was a little tense, and he wanted to take a walk."

"In this forest?" Crys asked in bewilderment, before she broke out laughing, "…sounds exactly like something that man would do. I'm guessing that girl you brought with you was Ahsoka, the one from the holo-messages?"

"Mm hmm…" Aayla replied with a nod. True to her word, she had kept in touch with the crew of the _Uhumele_, sending them messages at least once a month to little Reza when she could. The last message was nearly two months ago though, "…I really should say hello to Reza, maybe when the conclave ends we'll meet up somewhere."

"She'll like that…" Taanzer nodded in agreement, "…she gets all excited every time she receives a holo-transmission from you."

Aayla smiled, closing her eyes as she rested. There was a companionable silence between them for a moment before Crys spoke again, and opening her eyes, the Jedi saw that the pilot was looking in the direction of the camp, tenseness in her form, "They've been in there for a while."

"Mm," Aayla managed to hum with a nod, eyes fully open now as the true enormity of this conclave hit home. The conclave was about more than resurrecting the Jedi High Council and gathering the remnants of the Order. The meeting of the highest authority of the Jedi would also be making another decision, a decision which could be instrumental in the Order's survival or destruction. The decision facing them was a simple one: to run and hide, or to stay and fight – a decision so simple, yet carried such complex and immense ramifications at the same time.

It was a question which all Jedi were asking themselves and each other: what do we do from here?

Logic dictated that such open aggressive action against the Empire and its vast armies was suicidal. The best the remnants of the Jedi would be able to manage was a heroic last stand - a stand in which the Empire and its numerous resources would make them out as the villains of the battle after they were all dead and gone. Logic dictated that they scatter, hide and prepare for a time when the people of the galaxy began to see the truth of their "beloved Emperor" and his circle.

Though while they all knew the logical choice, their feelings screamed at them to take the more aggressive approach and fight back against the injustice that they had been subjected to; to avenge the loved ones that they had lost. They were reminded, very brutally, that while the Jedi Order had its rules and codes, its members were sentient beings with hearts and souls, all of whom had formed bonds during their days as apprentices and knights; they had formed friendships, and become brothers and sisters in all but blood. Everyone here had lost so many cherished people: pupils, teachers, brothers, sisters, surrogate mothers and fathers - people they loved and respected dearly.

Logic coldly told them to wait and be patient: wait for the galaxy to wake up and see the wolves they had allowed into their door, and be patient, determining the course of action with the best possible outcome…and refrain from taking action until that course had presented itself after cold, hard analysis of the facts. In the past year or so since the execution of Order Sixty-Six, however, the repressed passions within the hearts of the Jedi survivors would at best ignore logic's cold voice, and at worst beat it down, cursing its coldness and labelling it cowardice.

Their hearts were demanding that they stand up and shout with a united, defiant voice, "_Here we are, face us now!"_

Aayla knew that their best chance for survival lay in being patient, in hiding in the shadows as the Sith had done for a millennia, watching, waiting and preparing for the day when they could step out into the open and face the Sith. Even she, though, had that voice demanding retribution. Too many friends had died at the hands of these butchers – The actions of the Sith demanded retaliation of some kind.

Not only those who had perished during Order Sixty-Six, a response had to be made for those who had fought and died during this whole debacle, which was obviously now a well-planned and intricately-woven Sith trap: the Clone Wars, events where Jedi and civilians alike died at the hands of the Sith as far back as the Invasion of Naboo, perhaps even further than that. For a millennia the Sith had made the galaxy think they were an extinct order. How many had died simply because the Sith didn't want to be exposed too soon?

The thought brought with it a cold chill to Aayla, but also a fire of righteous fury which she mercilessly reined in lest it get out of hand and cloud her judgment. She took a deep breath, feeling the negative emotions leave her, and knew then, above all else, that the best course of resistance was not in openly challenging the Sith, but to keep the Jedi Order alive. Now was not the time for open aggression; now was the time to wait and to plan.

Logic needed the dominant voice right now. Reason needed to win over passion. It was easy to be angry – the challenge was being angry at the right time, and in the right place, so that their anger could bring about the best possible outcome when acted upon.

Aayla knew this; she just hoped the Jedi Council, such as it was, did as well.

* * *

"We cannot allow this atrocity to go on unanswered…" Master Hudorra said with a fire in his eyes. The Bothan Jedi Master was leaning forward in his chair, his right hand held out and tightened into a fist as he spoke, "…I was there at the Jedi Temple, barely a day after Order Sixty-Six was enacted. I watched as they piled the bodies of our brothers and sisters and set them alight. It did not matter to them if they were Masters, Knights, Padawans, old, sick, teenagers…even younglings, _younglings_!"

"Please quell your anger, Master Hudorra…" Master T'ra Saa soothed as she attempted to defuse the situation, "…this conclave has been convened, and the Jedi High Council's numbers renewed so that we can best decide how the remnants of the Jedi Order are to survive, not to plan revenge upon our enemies."

"To the dark side, revenge leads…" Yoda interrupted with a shake of his head, "…leads to anger, hatred and death, it does. Within all of our hearts, this darkness exists."

"Perhaps that is what we need!" Hudorra growled low in his throat, "…the Sith are only two –_two_ - yet they destroyed an Order of tens of thousands of Jedi with a single sweep of their hand!"

"It is not that simple…" Obi-wan stated as he leaned against his chair, hands steepled together as he spoke, "…the Sith did not do what they did overnight; such thinking is naïve and short-sighted. They have been planning this for decades, maybe even centuries, maybe even as far back as the time of their supposed extinction."

"And it was your pupil who helped the Sith complete his plan!" Hudorra snarled, pointing an accusing finger in Kenobi's direction, "…your pupil turned against us; massacred Padawans, children and Knights within the confines of the Jedi Temple. It was your failure in teaching him that led to this, Obi-wan!"

"You are out of line, Master Hodurra!" Shaak Ti frowned as she looked right at him, "…Master Kenobi had trained Anakin until Knighthood, but he could not have foreseen the path his student would have taken after leaving his care. No one here could have foreseen his union with the Senator of Naboo, and the emotions which it bred."

The guilt and hurt was well-hidden in Obi-Wan, but it shined in the Force as brightly as a flare. Even his fellow Councillors could sense the disturbance in the Force that Kenobi's feelings created. He blamed himself for Anakin's fall to darkness, and continuously thought that perhaps if he had been a better teacher, a more seasoned teacher, then maybe he would have seen what was happening under his very nose.

"I agree with Master Ti…" Tholme stated with firm conviction, leaning forward with an open challenge to the Bothan clearly visible in his eyes, "…Master Kenobi trained Anakin well, but it was Skywalker's own decisions which led to his fall, not those of his teacher!"

Hodurra scoffed openly at the old master's words, "I will not take such words from you, Master Tholme! Wasn't it one of your own apprentices who went down the same path, who barely a day before handed in his resignation from the Jedi Order!"

"Quinlan Vos had decided this course of action before Order Sixty-Six was implemented, and he has made it abundantly clear that if any Jedi require his aid, all they need to do is ask for it…" Tholme replied with a scathing glare, "…my former pupil has defeated his darkness and chosen his path well: something, perhaps, you should take note off, Master Hodurra."

"Perhaps we should take a recess…" the young Master Fy-Tor-Ana spoke up, attempting to defuse a tense situation between Hodurra and Tholme, "…we came here not to cast blame upon each other, but to decide on the best course of action to follow, so that what remains of our numbers can survive for the foreseeable future. That is what we should be focused on, yes?"

"Wise words from the youngest present…" Master Tsui Choi stated with certainty before managing a weak chuckle, "…over the past few days, the wisest words I have heard have come from those younger than most of those in this room. Our reason for this meeting is not to place blame, or to plan revenge, but to decide on what our next move should be."

"It is obvious what our next move should be…" Master Kota spoke up, looking upon those present, "…we must respond to the Empire's aggression. We must save the Republic!"

"There is no Republic to save, anymore!" An'ya Kuro admonished sharply, the legendary dark woman having been silent for much of the debate, only speaking up now, "…the Senate made the decision to become an Empire. They may have been subtly manipulated by Palpatine and his minions, but it was their decision: they made it, they ratified it, thus making it legal and binding! If we make a move now, we will cement the belief that we are the enemy of the proper governing authorities, not them."

"Any aggressive move we make will be playing right into Palpatine's hands…" Obi-wan added in agreement, "…the Sith have planned this too well, and have framed us to the point where any move we make against them will make us look like the traitors they have made us out to be."

"Then what do you advice, Master Kenobi?" Swan asked, looking over at him for a long moment.

"We must be patient…" Choi said in the stead of the legendary Negotiator, finding himself repeating what he had said during the Conclave of Kessel barely a week before, "…in time, the Galaxy will feel the oppressive nature of the Sith; it will groan beneath the Empire's heel. In time, the Galaxy will rise up to fight against them and their tyrannical regime. That is when we need to act!"

"That could take years, decades even!" Kota shot back in exasperation.

"Which is why we must prepare the Order as such…" Choi countered evenly, "…we must prepare for what is coming. The Sith and their allies will be moving soon to finish us off. We must prepare for their next move, counter them, scatter and hide, prepare for the inevitable insurrection which will come!"

"Scatter and hide?" Hodurra repeated slowly, in disbelief and growing anger, "…that is this Council's decision, to run and hide from our enemies like cowards instead of meeting them in battle? To allow them to continue butchering us without a word?""

"Meeting our enemies head-on in battle will end only in this Order's destruction!" Tholme shot back with absolution, "…how many are we, Master Hondurra? Can you really see the battle-scarred few hundred survivors being able to defeat the full might of the Imperial War Machine? Can you see these broken and defeated men and women defeat the whole Galaxy? **Well…CAN YOU?**"

"Against the full might of the Imperial War Machine, no…" Hondurra replied with a shake of his head, "…but against two Sith lords? Yes, I believe we can win."

"And just how do you propose we do that, Master Hondurra?" Choi asked poignantly, "…how exactly do you propose that we even get near the Senate on Coruscant? We can't just stroll in through the front door!"

"If we can kill the two Sith, then this preposterous empire will fall…" Kota said in what appeared to be realisation, a small smile forming on his features, "…without them to dictate the situation, the Empire will fall apart at the seams…and we can rebuild the Republic!"

"It will not be that easy," Tsui Choi chastised with a heavy sigh.

"Master Choi speaks the truth…" Obi-wan said, "…the situation is no longer that simple."

"And how is that?" Tholme asked.

"It's not just the Sith we need to deal with anymore. The Emperor has been busy recruiting the remnants of Dooku's Dark Acolytes, as well as brainwashing members of our Service Corps and other Force-sensitive individuals to build his own private army…" Obi-wan explained, "…he's split them into two factions, an Inquisitorium that he's been using as his private police force, and also a small army of bodyguards he's calling the Shadow Guard."

There was an eerie silence among the members of the Council as they digested this information. It was K'Kruhk who asked the necessary question, "What are the numbers of this new organisation?"

Obi-Wan replied with a heavy sigh, "I'm not sure, but from what my sources could tell me, there were a few dozen survivors of Count Dooku's personal guard, and the potential manpower that the Emperor can manipulate with our Service Corps is well within the hundreds, maybe even thousands of brainwashed recruits."

The thought was beyond chilling. The Service Corps was an organisation financed by the Jedi Order, made up of four branches known as the Agricultural Corps, Educational Corps, Medical Corps and finally the Exploration Corps - all created for those initiates who were Force-sensitive but unable to pass their trials to become Jedi. Those who did not reach the level who had no families to return to were drafted into the Corps, still considered Jedi, but using their abilities to aid the Republic in other ways.

The potential manpower the Emperor could utilise from those Corps was terrifying, and the fact that there were a few dozen fully-trained Dark Jedi training those who inevitably fell to the whispers of the dark side of the Force made the possibility all the more real, and all the more terrifying and chilling to those present.

"How do you know this?" Hondurra asked in suspicion.

"I would like to say that I still have some agents scattered about, but that is mostly a lie. Most of what I am telling you now I found out on my own, through infiltrating the Coruscant Archives of the new Imperial Centre…" Obi-wan explained, slouching back in his chair, "…I do not know where they are centralising this, but my guess is that it's a planet in the Core, maybe even the Deep Core."

"I see. This is worrisome, to say the least," Kota muttered lowly, knowing that it was an understatement of the century.

"There is also another piece of information I have found: the Emperor is creating another, much smaller force of Force-sensitive soldiers. He's handpicking the most promising recruits and training them personally to become his personal force of assassins and bodyguards. He's calling them the Hands of the Emperor, or the Emperor's Hands…" Obi-wan added, "…he's surrounding himself with trained assassins and killers, meaning that he's now more dangerous than ever before."

"Is this Emperor's Hand movement ready?" T'ra Saa asked.

"I don't believe so; I've only began hearing about them recently. At the moment, there are probably only a handful of them ready for actual combat, and even then they'd probably be pretty inexperienced in the field…" Obi-wan paused before adding, "…that is just my hypothesis, though. I could be wrong."

"It may only be a hypothesis, but the information is helpful…" K'Kruhk said gravely, looking over at Obi-wan, "…thank you for sharing this with us, Master Kenobi. We need to spread word of this along to the rest of the survivors."

"It will be unwise for any Jedi to travel alone," Shaak Ti nodded in agreement.

"Even with this information, we still need to consider fighting back," Kota said in a low whisper.

"No! Now is not the time for that! Even if the Emperor's new Force-sensitive private army was not an issue, there are still other concerns," T'ra Saa said softly, yet firmly.

"Such as?"

"The ideal of the Empire is now firmly in place," Choi spoke up in response, "…almost every world in the realm of the Republic has agreed with it in the year since its declaration. Even if we assassinate the two Sith, and declare a return to the Republic, the Galaxy will see us not only as the traitors that the Sith have made us appear to be, but also as fanatical traditionalists who refuse to accept change, which would be even more damaging to us!

"Think for a moment! Let's assume that we're somehow able to overcome the odds and kill the Emperor and Darth Vader! Then what? How would we be able to serve a Galaxy whose citizens regard us as an enemy and a threat? What, do you think that the Galaxy will just welcome us back with open arms after we've killed the leader that they're completely enamoured with and enthralled by? We'd do nothing more than create a **martyr! **The populace will then do what the Sith have been trying to do: they will destroy us in place of our enemy! Why? Because the Sith have planned that…far…ahead! We cannot hope to win as we are now. The Galaxy is against us. We cannot force them to accept our ideal!"

"Then you suggest we simply allow them to hunt us down and destroy us?" Hondurra asked with a harsh glare, "…I will not allow that to happen, Master Choi!"

"To strike against the Empire right now will accomplish nothing but the extinction of the Jedi Order, and worse still, it would plunge the Galaxy into civil war, which will undoubtedly cost many millions of lives, if not billions! Even if we defeat the Sith, we will still lose in the long run…" Choi countered firmly, "…what I am suggesting is not to allow the Sith to pick us off; what I am suggesting is that we create an underground network to aid us in vanishing from the eyes of the Empire, while also allowing us to rebuild our numbers from the safety that the shadows will best provide us right now."

"I agree with Master Choi…" Kenobi spoke up, "…he is correct. In order to survive, we need to disappear from the eyes of the Empire."

"I also agree," Master K'Kruhk added in a gravelly voice, nodding his head.

"As do I," Fy added timidly.

Shaak Ti sighed and nodded, "Revenge is not the Jedi way, and emotions are running high. I support Master Choi's position. In time, the Galaxy will see the truth, and we need to be ready when that time finally arrives."

"And how will we do that?" Kota asked, his tone showing the doubt in his mind that such a plan could work, "…our list of allies has become rather thin as of late."

"Yes, how are we going to do it?" Hondurra asked, closing his eyes and sighing as he continued to calm himself, "…two hundred plus Jedi cannot disappear as easily as you all believe. Our faces are all known to the galaxy, either through the war effort or the wanted posters. Many Jedi Knights have spent the last year dodging Imperial agents and bounty hunters. How do you all propose we vanish?"

Silence was their only response.

* * *

The night had brought the temperature down to a bearable level, at least, and Rex found the quiet to be very soothing. For the first time in quite a while, he finally had some solitude away from the ragtag group of rogues and fugitives he had joined. The former Grand Army officer closed his eyes and relaxed, seated on a deckchair beside the open ramp way of the _Will of Fire._

He enjoyed a little quiet, but that didn't mean that he would rather it remain that way. He enjoyed the company of those he now called comrades; those who had brought Ahsoka back from the depths of despair. He enjoyed the atmosphere when the group was together - the laughter, the jokes, the living for the moment, not knowing what was going to happen next. There were times when they almost seemed like a family…an unorthodox family, to be certain, but a family, none the less.

The idea of family was a bit foreign to Rex. After all, he was a clone, born and bred to be both the thrusting sword as well as the raised shield of the Galactic Republic. He knew little about his progenitor, the Mandalorian mercenary Jango Fett, and he didn't know anything at all about the now-deceased man's past, or if he had any family. Rex, like many other clones, made bonds with his fellows, bonds of camaraderie and friendship only formed on the field of battle. He had forged these bonds with many of his fellow brothers, and of course, with the Jedi he served under.

"Family", however…that was an alien term to Rex.

But…if he was asked if he considered these people to be his family, he would answer without hesitation that he would consider them as such; they were that important to him. In his military mind, a family was a group of individuals who looked out for each other, who had firm bonds of friendship and trust, and who would watch each others' backs through thick and thin. In most instances, the members were related by blood, but there were common instances where that was not the case. As with Ahsoka, Rex wanted to protect these people…which is why he had decided to do what he was about to do.

He heard the snap of a twig from within the dark of the forest. Quietly getting to his feet, with a subtle movement, he picked up his blaster carbine from beside his deckchair, effortlessly lifting the medium level weapon with a single hand and pointing it into the darkness of the forest. He was pretty sure it wasn't any of the local wildlife; the perimeter sensors he had installed around the ship would have warned him in advance of that.

This left one possibility of whom his visitor was.

"Flash," he said into the dark, weapon still levelled and ready for anything.

"Thunder," was the solemn reply.

Rex smirked as he lowered his carbine, watching as a single figure stepped into the low light. His facial features were almost exactly the same as his own, black hair, tanned skin, dark eyes. The clone was dressed in the armour of an ARC trooper, worn by age, chipped and dull from combat. In his hand was a scoped blaster carbine, which was held idly in his hands.

Rex stood up, eyeing his visitor, "My name is Rex, designation CT-7567, former-"

"I know who you are, Captain…" the ARC trooper cut him off lightly, "…you've become something of a celebrity. Did you know that the bounty on your head has tripled over the last week?"

"Has it, really?" Rex asked evenly, though one could see that he was mildly impressed with himself that the Empire wanted him that badly, "…that is interesting. And you might be?"

"Alpha, Designation A-17, of the _Alpha-class_Batch of the Advanced Recon Commandos," the man replied, and Rex immediately became alert. The _Alpha-class_Batch was the first ARC troopers to come out of Kamino: a unit of one hundred clones trained under the watchful gaze of Jango Fett himself, created to be fully-independent with unaltered minds. They were considered some of the most dangerous elements of the Grand Army of the Republic. Survivors of this batch served with bravery and distinction that was almost unparalleled, but were also known to voice disagreements if they received orders they didn't like.

"It is an honour…" Rex allowed with a nod of his head, "…you received my communiqué, that's why you're here?"

Alpha nodded his head in response.

"Are you alone?"

"Of course not," the ARC trooper replied. More figures appeared in the depths of the forest, stepping from the shadows into the dull light. Rex mentally counted each man as they stepped forward, some wearing the uniform of ARC troopers, others were obviously officers of Sergeant, Lieutenant and even Captain Grade – twelve in all, not counting Alpha.

"You called us, Captain…" Alpha said, sitting down and placing his blaster in front of him, and one by one the others mirrored his motion, each taking a seat until they formed a circle, "…we are the leaders of those within the Grand Army that are now considered traitors to the Galactic Empire. Once again, I will introduce myself; name's Alpha, Designation A-17, Leader of the survivors of the _Alpha-Class_ARC Unit, now numbering a total of twenty three."

One by one the others made their introductions, including their given name, their designation number and the number of soldiers under their command. The number varied from a squad level unit of roughly six, to platoon sized contingents of about twenty. All of them were either ARC troopers or commandos of some fashion. Rex took the information in stride.

"Many have come…" Rex said as the introductions ended, "…that is good."

"And why have you called us all here?" Alpha asked, "…it is rather dangerous, not to mention a bit foolhardy, for all of us to meet in one place, no?"

"I have asked you all to come here because, at this very moment, the survivors of the Jedi Order are meeting to decide what their next course of action should be…and we need to do this as well…" Rex stated with certainty, "…what I propose is that we ally ourselves with the remnants of the Jedi for our mutual survival and benefit. What say you?"

* * *

The sounds of a gimmer stick hitting the ground caught the attention of all present. Master Yoda had risen from his chair and was walking towards the centre of the chamber, ignoring the looks of confusion coming from all around him. It was T'ra Saa who asked the aging Jedi master what was wrong.

"Master Yoda?" she asked, standing up herself and walking over towards the much smaller leader of the Jedi. The Neti towered over the Grand Master, looking down at him with worry that was mirrored by those Masters still seated, "…is something wrong?"

Yoda said nothing for a moment, instead focusing his attention to the ceiling high above, "A visitor, we have."

The reaction was imminent, T'ra Saa saw Obi-wan, Shaak Ti, Hondurra and Kota rise from their chairs, lightsaber hilts held in their hands, ready to be ignited in less than a moment. A raised hand from the aging Grand Master stopped them from making any other aggressive action as he took another step forward, "Not necessary, weapons are. Reveal yourself, you will."

A blur fell from the ceiling high above, and a figure appeared in the centre of the chamber in a crouch, barely half a meter away from Master Yoda. He rose to his full height, almost as tall as T'ra Saa, but not quite. He was human, with blond hair and tanned skin, wearing unfamiliar clothing, yet at least four of the present Masters recognised him.

"Naruto?" T'ra Saa asked in confusion.

Naruto smiled good-naturedly, "Hi there. How long have you known I was here?"

"From the beginning," Yoda replied, studying his opponent.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Tholme asked with a sigh.

"You know this man?" Obi-wan asked.

"Mm," T'ra Saa hummed in response, "His name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he has been aiding Tholme's former apprentice, Aayla Secura, since Order Sixty-Six was carried out. Tholme and I have met him before."

"As have we…" Choi added and Swan nodded, "…alongside Knight Secura and her allies, he aided us in our escape from the Empire on Kessel."

Tholme finished, "During our dealings with him, we have considered him to be a strong ally to us, and Knight Secura trusts him with her life."

"Trust him, you do," Yoda stated as he took a few steps forward. Naruto looked on, his eyes locking with those of the much smaller creature. He knelt before the Grand Jedi Master so that they could look each other in the eye as equals. He felt a great power emanating from this creature, far stronger than Aayla, Celeste or Dass. Only Darth Vader had emanated the level of power that seemed to radiate through this diminutive creature.

The air seemed to be saturated with power, but Naruto did not look away, feeling that he was being tested. Yoda kept the young man's eye for what seemed like an eternity. Even the Jedi present could sense the tension in the air as the Grand Master probed this stranger's being with the Force, attempting to see even the slightest hint of betrayal.

Yoda closed his eyes, a smile playing his aging features, "A good soul, you are, but a troubled soul. A soldier, are you?"

"Aayla was right…" Naruto said with a cheeky smile, "…you really can see anything."

A dry chuckle escaped the ancient master's throat, "A reason for your visit, there must be, hmm?"

Naruto became serious in a heartbeat, nodding his head, "Indeed, there is."

"Then speak, you must."

"Very well…" Naruto nodded his head, "…from what I have heard, the majority of you have already come to the conclusion that the only way for the Jedi to survive the coming years is not in taking to the offensive, but in vanishing from the Empire's sight. I can aid you in this."

"How so, pray tell?" Hondurra asked in pure, unkempt suspicion.

"My teacher was considered to be one of the greatest of spymasters on my home world. As his student, he taught me a great deal about the arts of espionage and deception…" Naruto replied without hesitating. His eyes travelled across the room, meeting all of their gazes before settling his own upon Yoda's smaller form, "…I know how to disappear. Not only that, but I can also aid you in gathering potential allies and building reliable, wide-spread, air-tight spy networks."

"Hmm…" Yoda murmured as he took a step forward, looking up into the sapphire orbs of the human standing before him. Naruto didn't know how, but he understood. The blond knelt before Yoda, bringing himself down to eye-level with the diminutive Grand Master once again. Yoda reached out with a three-digit hand and pressed it against the blond's chest, closing his eyes as he concentrated with the Force before voicing his findings a few moments later, "…the truth, you speak, and a genuine wish to aide us in our time of strife, I sense. Great strength of will and character, I sense in you, also great power; one that no normal human should be able to possess."

A great power seemed to settle upon Yoda's shoulders, and the aging creature's eyes became wide as he felt something pull against his very being, something of incredible strength and power. It didn't come from Naruto himself. Rather it seemed to come from somewhere deep inside his soul, his very being.

Yoda was unable to utter neither a word, nor even a syllable before he was pulled into the recesses of the blond human's mind.

* * *

In the time it took for Yoda to blink, he was no longer standing in the hollowed-out shell of a great tree. Instead, he found himself standing in what looked like a throne room of some kind. A grand cavernous chamber, with large pillars on either side of him holding up the high ceiling and lit torches bearing light along these pillars, and on the outer walls. There was a carpet of royal red set along the centre of the chamber, leading to a set of stone steps leading up to a high-backed throne.

A humanoid form, cast in shadow, was seated on this throne, looking upon the small form of Yoda with a calculating, inhuman gaze.

Yoda hesitated for a moment, before resigning himself to his fate. He began to hobble in the direction of the steps, each tap of his gimmer stick echoing through the massive chamber he found himself within. The being seated on the throne did not react, but just continued to sit on the high-backed chair, the form of a single crimson eye glowing through the shadows as it studied the small form approaching it.

With each step, Yoda felt the power emanating from this being. As he moved closer, he felt that power grow, seemingly exponentially, and settling on his shoulders, making it difficult to breathe, difficult to move. The very air seemed to be heavy, saturated with the power of the being before him. Yoda continued to persevere, showing his will as he placed one foot in front of the other.

Before long he was at the foot of the stone steps, looking up. His breath was leaving him in gasps, sweat now running down his brow and a single hand was pressed to his chest. His determination would not leave him, however, even when the very power saturating the air was killing him.

"Enough," a deep booming voice exclaimed.

The power left the air, and Yoda was glad for it as he took in huge gulps of air, suppressing the need to collapse as he called upon the Force to replenish him. He looked up, sweat still streaming down his face, to see the humanoid figure rise from his throne and walk to the edge of the platform. With each step the being took, more light fell upon him, showing his form to the ancient Jedi Master.

"I have gained many visitors since coming here…" the being said as he continued to advance, coming to the edge of the platform before stopping. Yoda could only look on, continuing to take deep breaths, "…the first called himself a Sith lord, and thought he could control my host and take my power. The second was a young Jedi girl, who aided my host in remembering who he truly was, and now…"

His full form stepped into the light. He wore plated armour of blood red with black lining, black fatigues worn underneath. His hair was a long mane of messy crimson locks which reached well past his shoulders. His facial features were sharp and handsome and his skin was pale, but his eyes stood out, crimson orbs with feral sickle's as black as night staring at him with an intensity which Yoda felt in his very soul.

"And now, standing before me, is a creature that is almost as old as I am."

He looked human, but he was not. No human, nor any mortal creature, could carry such power; no mere mortal had the right to carry such power. Yoda could feel what this creature was capable of: capable of unleashing destruction on par with that of an _Imperial-class_star destroyer firing upon the surface of a planet…no, perhaps capable of exacting even greater devastation than that.

"Who are you?" the creature asked as he began descending the steps separating Yoda and him, each step he took echoing through the chamber, "…you do not have that rancid, spoiled feel of the Sith Lord. You feel more akin to the Jedi girl, but with less spark, less…youth. I suppose that is the difference. You are like her, then, ancient creature? A Jedi?"

Yoda could not find his voice, so instead he nodded. He did not wonder who this Jedi girl was that the creature before him was talking about, for he already knew, but he could not regain his voice to ask other, more pressing questions which were on his mind. Such as who, or what, this creature standing before him was.

He heard an echo of footsteps from behind him, and turned in time to see the tall form of the human man from before walking towards him. He had not changed in the slightest, and continued to walk until he stood right beside Yoda, looking up at the creature before him with a solemn expression, followed by a sigh.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't have expected this…" Naruto said as he looked up at the creature before them with a raised brow, "…I've seen that armour before. It's the same armour that Madara Uchiha wore in his prime. I thought you hated the man with a passion, Kurama."

"Believe me, I do…" the now-identified Kurama replied as he began descending the steps, spreading out his hands and allowing his armour to glint in the low light, "…if I ever see that man again, I would take great pleasure in turning him into a crimson smear on the ground…but…even I have to admit that he had style. I always liked this armour, even if I could not stand _him_."

Yoda looked at Naruto for a long moment, before returning his attention to the other human-like individual halfway along the steps: Kurama. His old mind worked to try and discern what was going on, but he had never seen anyone…or anything, for that matter…like this before. This Kurama was not a product of Naruto's imagination, nor was he a product of some multiple-personality disorder.

That left the question that was now searing the venerable Jedi Grand Master's mind - this Kurama: just who…or what…was he?

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__Thanks to ncpfan for once again beta-reading the chapter. The next update probably won't be put up for a few weeks, just giving my readers a heads up on that one. I need to do a little thinking on the continued progress of the story, I have a rough idea of where I want to go, but I just need to sort out some of the kinks before I start writing again. It shouldn't be a long break, a few weeks to a month tops before I deliver the next chapter; apologies in advance._


	32. Conclave of Kashyyyk: Choice

_**Chapter 31**_

_**Conclave of Kashyyyk**_

_**Choice**_

"You are getting sloppy, Naruto," Kurama stated as he looked down upon Yoda with a calculating gaze, folding his arms across his chest. "Perhaps time with these Jedi has dulled your senses somewhat."

Naruto looked over at his one-time prisoner with a piercing glare, before looking back down at the diminutive figure of the Grand Jedi Master, "I was only expecting him to brush against my mind to see if I was lying. I did not expect him to dive in so deep that he would be pulled in."

"Hmm, like I said: you are getting sloppy," The crimson-haired man replied with mischief in his equally crimson eyes before returning his attention to the intruder, "So tell me, old creature: why go to such lengths to read through my host's mind, especially when he was willing to cooperate?"

"See the Sith, I did not, when right under my nose, they were," Yoda responded, leaning heavily on his gimmer stick as he returned Kurama's studying gaze, "Be unprepared again, I will not."

"Wise, indeed," Kurama replied after a moment's thought, turning his attention from Yoda back to Naruto, "Let this be a lesson for you, brat: never be so trusting in front of those you have never met, despite what you hear. I thought your time after the destruction of your home would have taught you that."

Naruto's eyes narrowed upon Kurama's remark, but he did not rise to the bait and remained silent. The Kyuubi no Yoko shrugged the shoulders of his human form before speaking, "Well, the jig is up, as they say. I can see that there are questions you wish to ask of me, old creature, but be warned: I will impart only what information I believe you need…no more."

Yoda nodded, tapping his gimmer stick against the tiled ground, "Who are you?"

Kurama laughed lightly, "A predictable question, but one which is unavoidable. Very well, then, my name is Kurama, and I am a creature beyond the understanding of you mortals. The people of the brat's home world knew me as the Kyuubi no Yoko, or Nine Tailed Demon Fox. My name, my true name bestowed upon me by the most powerful being in history, is Kurama."

Yoda hummed in thought as he continued to study the man…no, the creature…before him, "Your goal, I wish to know."

Once again Kurama laughed, this time with more force, "Goal? I have no goal. It is my host here who has a goal. I am simply following him on his quest, as he is my Jinchūriki. I have no choice but to follow him for our mutual survival."

The small Master's eyes narrowed, "Jinchūriki?"

"It is a name given to those who have one of us, a Bijuu, sealed inside of them. In their ancient language, Jinchūriki is translated as 'Power of the Human Sacrifice' I believe. When Naruto was born, his father sealed me inside of him, hence making him…a Jinchūriki," Kurama replied, eyeing his host and smirking when he noticed him tense.

Naruto narrowed his eyes further, "I don't like that label."

Kurama shrugged, "We each have to live with the labels and titles bestowed upon us, brat. Honestly, I prefer that you mortals know me as the Kyuubi no Yoko. Only those I consider worthy may call me by my given name."

"Have a goal, you may not…but a purpose, you must," Yoda interrupted.

"You are getting bold, little one," Kurama smirked, before turning around and making his way up the stone steps towards his throne, "I have no goal, nor do I have a purpose here other than to aid the brat. I am simply an impotent colossus along for the ride, but allow me to give you some friendly advice: heed my host's warnings and his wisdom, for although he is young and stubborn to the point of idiocy at times, he has been through what you have."

He had ascended the steps by now and was once again sitting on his throne, looking down upon Naruto and Yoda. The blond glared right at the red-armoured man known as Kurama, lacking even the slightest hint of intimidation as he blew out a breath and smiled dryly, "Stubborn…to the point of idiocy? I'm not taking that bullshit from you; it's like a kettle and pot scenario."

Kurama gave no outward sign of hearing Naruto for several long heartbeats, before sighing, "I suppose you're right, there."

"Given an answer, you still have not."

"I suppose I haven't, have I?" Kurama asked as he leaned forward, placing his hand against his chin as he smirked, "Do you truly wish to know what I am, little one?"

Yoda hesitated for a moment, before nodding.

Kurama chuckled, "It is rare that I encounter such an inquisitive mind as yours. Very well, then – I shall indulge your curiosity, if for no other reason that I find myself taking a bit of a liking to you, ancient one."

He was gone, in the blink of an eye he had vanished from his throne, leaving nothing. Yoda's eyes widened slightly, but his surprise was short lived when he once again felt the eldritch creature's presence, right behind him. He turned around, seeing Kurama's form in the very centre of the chamber.

"He is such a show off," Naruto murmured with a sigh as he turned around. He then looked around, as if studying the size of the chamber. "Yeah, I'd say this was just about big enough."

"Big enough…say you?" Yoda asked with a raised brow.

Then he felt it, beginning so subtly that it was almost unnoticeable, but it strengthened, and once again Yoda felt the pressure on his shoulders. Kurama's body began to morph and shift, growing bigger, armour buckled and broke, falling away, mouth elongated, teeth became jagged, eyes became feral, crimson fur grew over skin. Yoda could only watch as he grew, doubling, tripling, quadrupling until it towered over them as if they were ants before a giant. Nine tails exploded forth, flailing in the air behind the creature as it looked down upon them.

The creature, Kurama, stood before them in all of its glory and power. Yoda felt this creature's raw strength through the force, stronger than anything he had ever felt in his long life. He had lived for almost a millennium, had visited innumerable worlds and had seen countless wonders, but this creature dwarfed anything he had ever encountered, or even heard of, before. It was a wellspring of emotion and power in the force…no, a wellspring didn't seem appropriate…a torrent, a tidal wave would perhaps be a better word to describe the power he felt, the energy.

"Master Yoda," Naruto said as he stood by the diminutive Grand Master's side, "This is the true form of Kurama, the Kyuubi no Yoko."

"Hmm, so long I have lived... yet this, I have never seen." Yoda said in a tone of quiet astonishment and disbelief.

Kurama spoke, voice echoing with power. _**"Words alone are not enough. To understand who we are, where we come from, you must be able to see."**_

Naruto frowned, "Allowing him access to my mind. Weren't you the one who said I shouldn't be so trusting?"

"_**The time calls for it,"**_ Kurama replied, voice resonating with raw energy as it echoed through the chamber. _**"You already made the decision on whose side you will choose, Naruto; it is time to put your trust in that side."**_

There was a moment of resigned silence before Naruto allowed a heavy sigh to escape his lips, "I suppose you're right."

The blond held up a hand and snapped his fingers. The chamber vanished, being replaced by a black void, only he, Yoda and Kurama remained. There was an eerie silence, and then an explosion of images seemed to fill up the void, replacing the darkness with images of multicoloured light. Each window showed a different memory, a different time, a different place, a different emotion, a different face. These windows were Naruto's life.

"Within these windows are the memories of my life," Naruto explained, as he stood beside Yoda and with a sweep of his hand the images became a dome of light and life surrounding them. "As a show of trust I bear my soul to you. I show you my life, the history of my people, all of my decisions, right and wrong."

He was not wrong, a mass of emotions and memories were bared before the Grand Master, memories which filled him with pride and joy, as well as memories which filled him with desperation and despair. He saw faces, both enemies and friends, human and otherwise. He saw nations, countries, armies and a great war.

Yoda looked to Naruto, silently asking one last time for permission to sift through the reservoir of memories, and received a nod in return. The intention was clear in the blond's eyes. He had permission, but only for those memories he needed to see, and he was not to delve too deep into what Naruto considered personal.

Yoda reached out with a three digit claw, touching the shimmering light of a memory and allowing the contents within the wash over him like a flood, a flood of information. Yoda flinched at the power, retracting his hand for a brief moment before taking a breath and plunging his hand back in. The memories returned, stronger, yet he persevered and shifted through them, finding an order and allowing it to flow into his mind.

* * *

_He saw a woman, a beautiful human woman with flowing red hair giving birth to a small child, a child he knew to be Naruto. He found a name as he looked through his memories, Kushina Uzumaki._

_That same woman, weak and tired, held captive by a man in black, an orange swirling mask covering his face. He used a ritual, subduing Kushina with ethereal chains, forcing some creature from her body. Kurama was released. Yoda saw it, Naruto was not the first one into whom this huge creature had been sealed away._

_The moment he was released, he was placed under a spell, hypnotism, a Genjutsu. His control over himself relinquished, his anger redirected and controlled. The masked man, Madara, set him loose upon an unsuspecting warrior city._

_Kurama wreaked havoc, destroying buildings, ending lives, only one man stood before him, a man who looked so similar to Naruto it could only be his father, Minato Namikaze, the leader of the village and its most powerful Shinobi._

_Minato, in battle with Madara, defeating him and taking away his control of Kurama. It did not stop his desire for revenge, so much anger and hatred that it could not be controlled. Madara fled, becoming an incoherent mass of colour before vanishing completely._

_Minato and Kushina were before Kurama, sacrificing their own lives to reseal him within an infant Naruto. Through it all Yoda felt their despair and desperation, feeling no other choice, but also he felt their faith in him, and their love for their child._

_He saw a child, growing up alone, orphaned, ignored and scorned. Through it he felt the stirrings of a beginning. The child gained an indomitable will, a fierce determination to prove himself and earn the trust and respect of those around him. He saw many hardships and troubles, but also an unbending will, strengthened by the help of a few._

_He saw the boy graduate the Konoha Shinobi Academy, though through unorthodox means. He was placed on a team with a boy with black hair who oozed pain, anger and the wish to seek revenge, and a girl with strange pink hair. He saw their time together, the friendships and bonds formed. He saw other children their age, of the same class who graduated together._

_He saw the silhouette of a man, long dark hair, Sith-like yellow eyes and a snake coiled around him. He saw him and his agents tempt Naruto's black haired teammate to gain the power he needed._

_He saw eleven men, garbed in black cloaks with red clouds, standing before a rising sun. Each one of them were some of the most powerful he had ever sensed in his long life, all on the level of the strongest of Jedi Masters, maybe a few well above that._

_He saw nine figures, men and women standing in the shadows of nine great beasts of power. He saw Kurama as one of those shadows, but one by one the figures vanished, and their sealed beasts along with them. He then saw a statue, nine eyes alight with the power of the Biju, and seven bodies scattered at its feet. These were people like Naruto, sought after, hunted down and killed for what they were forced to possess._

_He saw Naruto, facing off against a being of unparalleled power, fighting with all his might and will to no avail. Yoda saw a girl rush to his defence, fight for him and solidly defeated. He recognised her as an older Hinata Hyuga. He saw her defeated, apparently killed before his eyes, and he watched as Naruto nearly lost his will, allowing Kurama and his anger to destroy to subvert his own control._

_He saw Naruto in the confines of his mind, lost and without hope, willed on by Kurama's whispers and about to give in. A hand stopped him, and Yoda looked on to see his father, long dead, stop him from making a monumental mistake. He saw their reunion, and felt warmth in his heart as his father gave him his hope and faith in him. He restarted the spark within Naruto, and he went on to defeat his enemy and save the village._

_War was brewing, he was sent to an ancient sanctuary, united with the last of his kind and prepared for the battle to come. He chose to face Kurama and defeat him. He did not have the power, and was about to fall forever. Another spirit, his mother, rescued him from his losing battle, and Yoda saw another heartfelt reunion, and her aide in defeating Kurama._

_He saw a war, a war which cost tens of thousands of lives. He saw Naruto and a huge man, a fellow Jinchūriki, alongside the elite of their kind facing off against Madara and an army of resurrected Ninja enslaved to his will, as well as an even larger mass of cloned soldiers created for the sole purpose of evening the numbers._

_He saw victory, the dead buried and life continuing on, but he also saw the enemy survive, fade into the shadows, gather a new organisation and prepare for the fight. At the same time he saw Naruto settle into life, find love in the girl who helped him against Pein, and attempting to juggle a normal life with the reputation he gained from the war._

_Death, despair, his friends falling around him, his village in flames, burning to the ground and the laughter of those who committed these atrocities, an organisation of savages and murderers worse than those from before. His loved ones died, he saw the pink haired girl, Sakura, lying on the ground and Hinata, dying in Naruto's arms as he cried._

_There was an overwhelming sense of anger, hatred, revenge, an indomitable need for revenge. He saw Naruto travel the length and breadth of the Elemental nations, learning, preparing and moving forward with the will to strengthen and destroy those who took everything from him. He spent years preparing, years training and strengthening and finally he was strong enough. He saw that Naruto had put everything else aside in his singular focus to hunt and end those responsible for all of the death, despair and suffering to which he had borne witness…even the possible love of a beautiful red-haired, green-eyed woman did not sate his thirst for revenge, Naruto relentlessly hunted those responsible, taking them out one by one until only two remained, Madara and his former teammate, Sasuke._

_They baited him into a trap, there was a fight and he was trapped alongside Sasuke. He learned of the trap from Madara before he escaped, and the explosion that followed which burned away whatever memory he had between then and delved and probed with greater effort,but the missing memories between Madara's trap and his arrival into the greater galaxy remained just that - missing._

_He saw light, a blade of sapphire light slicing through the darkness and the familiar figure of a woman come through. Yoda noticed that his first thoughts were of her beauty. He compared her to an angel even when he fought against her. He saw the interaction between Naruto and Aayla, how she helped him understand and adjust to his situation, how he saved her life when Order 66 was unleashed and aided her in kind._

_He saw him train her in his people's ways, yet was mindful not to attempt to convert her to his beliefs. He saw their friendship grow, strong bonds form which strengthened the longer they were together. He saw their escape from Felucia, their meeting with the crew of the Uhumeleand adventures, their capture by Vader, the fight which followed and their meeting with a four-millennia-old Jedi possessed by a Sith spirit._

_He delved further, seeing what happened beyond, and his eyes widened and narrowed as the story continued. He attempted to delve further, but found it difficult. Naruto was attempting to stop him from continuing on. The memories from this moment onward were memories he was not willing to share with the Grand Master, but Yoda was not the highest and most powerful authority of the Jedi Order for nothing._

_He saw but a glimpse, but it was all he needed to see._

* * *

"You're getting a little too bold, Master," Naruto said in warning.

"Broken the Jedi Code, she has," Yoda whispered, "Knight Secura has fallen…fallen to her emotions."

Naruto's eyes widened at his statement, before narrowing, pulled between a sudden tight fear and a wish to shout his outrage at the Jedi before him for stumbling across that particular set of memories. He finally sighed in defeat, slouching as if he had suddenly become boneless, "I beg of you, do not blame Aayla for this. Although she has said otherwise I know that her greatest source of strength and pride is in her being a Jedi. To lose that, even now, would hurt her more than almost anything else."

Yoda studied Naruto for a long moment before sighing, "Speak of this more at a later date, we shall. More pressing issues, there are."

Naruto looked over at Yoda for a long moment, the mass of memories surrounding them dissipating once again leaving only Yoda, Naruto and the huge hulking form of Kurama in the background. Yoda sighed as he psychically called his gimmer stick to him and began walking towards Naruto, "Such trust you have shown me, Naruto Uzumaki, so equal trust, I will show you."

Naruto looked at Yoda for a long moment before sighing and nodding his head. He backed away, leaning against a non-existent wall and closing his eyes. He had thought that he had strengthened his mental defences enough to stop the old Master from seeing anything he didn't want him to see, but he had apparently miscalculated.

'_Oldest, wisest and most powerful of the Jedi indeed,' _Naruto mused, managing a melancholy smile. He should have expected a Master of Yoda's ability and strength to be able to break through his mental defences with ease, but he had underestimated his opponent, grossly underestimated him. He knew what would follow, and he feared in his being that Aayla may never forgive him for this.

"I'm sorry, Aayla," He murmured sadly, meaning every word as he knew of the steps ahead. Aayla was right; maybe the Code was too engrained in the Jedi to be able to defeat it. Such were Naruto's thoughts as he allowed reality to pull both him and Yoda from the universe of his mind.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, looking around and immediately feeling the tense atmosphere in the air of the chamber. It appeared that each member of the Jedi High Council was as wound and tight as a spring, ready to move at a moment's notice to defend the Grand Master against any threat he may become.

He looked down to see Yoda studying him for a brief moment, humming to himself in solemn thought as he turned to his fellow Jedi. The highest ranking member of the Order took a few steps forward, his wizened old gaze sweeping from one end of the chamber to the other, bringing each member of the new high council into his sight before he closed his eyes and bowed, "Tells the truth, this one does. Trust him, we can."

The edge in the air seemed to wane upon the Grand Master's sentence, and one by one the Jedi seemed to relax ever so slightly, they were still ready for anything, though. Naruto nodded to Yoda as he stood up and looked upon the council, clasping his hands behind his back before looking back down at the diminutive Jedi before him.

"Permission to speak, Grand Master Yoda?" he asked.

"Granted, permission is, Jōnin Naruto Uzumaki," Yoda replied with a voice of mirth.

Naruto nodded his head before taking a deep breath and looking back at the council with eyes set on their goals, "Many of you are angry, and I do not blame you. You mirror the feelings of the Jedi Order as a whole. However, fighting the Empire head on is not the answer. There are other ways to make the Empire pay."

"You seem to have experience in this…" Obi-wan suggested.

"I do; I have walked the path that you are about to tread," he said this while looking right at Hondurra, and then Kota, "My village was considered one of the dominant military forces on our side of the planet, and in one day, it was wiped off the face of the earth by an armed group of Shinobi whose power and cunning were unmatched. Since my village was destroyed, I fled to an allied land, and then I travelled, learning from ally and enemy alike for the time when I would take my revenge on those who destroyed everything I knew. I did so, I succeeded in destroying the people who wiped out my kin, but it was then, at the destination of the journey that I realised how empty the victory seemed. I killed my enemies, those who took so much from me, but it didn't bring any of my loved ones back."

There was silence, total and complete silence.

"You all have been through this same ordeal. It is up to you whether you walk my path and see the terrible emptiness at the end or work to preserve what is left of the Jedi, _your_ people." Naruto continued after a moment to compose himself, the wounds still cut deep, "The Empire, and the Sith expect you to do this, but there is a better way."

"How?" Tsui Choi asked, leaning forward.

"I believe I have an idea," Naruto replied, looking to the council; "If I can just be heard."

"I see no harm in an outside opinion," Tholme spoke up in defence of Naruto.

"Listen to your proposal, we will, unless any objections, there are?" Yoda added in agreement, looking around to see if there were in fact any objections to hearing Naruto out.

"I object, there is no need to ask an unknown for advice in a very simple issue," Hondurra said as he stood, "Why must we hide like dogs? We know who our enemies are, and we know where they are!"

"We do not have the strength to face them," Shaak Ti growled.

"Says you, and all members of this weak council," the Bothan shouted. "But I will not be deterred, I will take those who agree with me to Coruscant and we will destroy the Emperor."

"Have you not listened to a word that we have said?" Swan asked with rising agitation, "The chances of us defeating the Empire are-"

Her argument was halted by a raised hand between her and Hondurra's, from none other than Naruto himself. The Shinobi wasn't looking at Bultar Swan, but instead his eyes were entirely focused on the Bothan Jedi master. Azure eyes met orbs of a dark brown, challenging each other before the human released a deep sigh and began walking to the exit, for a moment Hondurra thought he had won, but it was just a moment.

"You think you and those few you can gather are a match for the Sith and their allies, huh?" Naruto asked in an almost rhetorical tone, reaching the exit to their chamber and turning around, "Alright then, I have a challenge for you. Defeat me, and then you may have a chance against the agents and forces of the Sith."

"Defeat you?" the Bothan asked, surprised.

"Yes, defeat me," Naruto replied without joy or anger, but with an emotionless voice and a face of stone, "Try and defeat me. If you can, then I will consider you able to not only defeat the Sith, but utterly destroy them and return the Republic to what it once was."

He spun on his heel and began walking out of the chamber, leaving a baffled and surprised council of Jedi behind him. He had reached the exit to the makeshift chamber before stopping and looking behind him, fearlessly repeating his challenge, "Well…are you coming or not?"

Hondurra hesitated for a brief moment, looking back at his fellow Masters, before rising from his chair and following Naruto out onto the chamber.

* * *

"There you are," Aayla said in way of greeting, not even looking back from her duty of bringing up the rear of the group of children and caretakers as Celeste silently dropped herself to the ground behind her. The former Jedi shadow gave her friend a wry smile as she too fell into step beside Aayla and Crys, "Where did you disappear too?"

"Took a nap," Celeste replied with a yawn and a stretch, "And I feel much better for it."

Crys shook her head, once again completely mystified by the carefree attitude of her two Jedi friends, before moving forward to join the Padawan leading the small clan into the encampment, "Sleeping in the middle of a dangerous jungle, I swear."

Aayla and Celeste watched as she walked past the younglings, seeing as Kennan and one of his friends, a little Twi'lek girl named Seddwia, rushed up to her side. The pilot ruffled her son's hair and took his friend's hand as she led them forward.

"If she's not careful she might be conscripted to be their new clan mother," Celeste joked.

"I don't think she'll mind," Aayla replied as they entered the outskirts of the camp, passing by a duo of watchmen guarding the main entrance. Both were Knights, they saw, and both looked tense and alert, but not in the direction of the forest. There was a commotion taking place in the camp.

Aayla unconsciously quickened her pace, Celeste following her as she skirted around the small clan of younglings. She saw that there was a commotion in the very centre of the camp, a small crowd of Jedi Apprentices, Knights and even a few Masters had gathered around two figures, and by the blond hair she could just about see Aayla swore she knew who one of the belligerents was.

"Oh no," she murmured as she reached the edge of the crowd and nudged her way into it, no longer aware if Celeste was still right behind her or not. She had just made it to the front of the line, nudging between a Mon Calamari and a Rodian to see what the interest was all about. The blond-haired human was definitely Naruto, and she recognised the Bothan at the other side of the clearing as Master Hondurra, "What is he doing now?"

Before she could even move into the clearing to question what he was doing the Jedi Master spoke up, unfolding his arms and placing them at his sides, "Challenging a Jedi Master head-on? I don't know if that makes you brave or foolish, boy."

Aayla blinked. Challenge him? Naruto challenged him to a duel? What the hell was he thinking? This was not the time to challenge one of the new seats to the Jedi High Council, and just how did Naruto get around to challenging a member of the new council when he was supposed to be taking a walk in the wilderness and Hondurra was supposed to be in a closed-off meeting? It all clicked in a heartbeat for Aayla, and she sighed in pure frustration. He wasn't taking a walk in the wilderness. He had been eavesdropping on the Jedi Council's meeting and had gotten himself caught.

"I love him, but I'm going to kill him," She murmured, so low that those around her didn't hear.

"Whether one's brave or foolish is usually a matter of perspective," Naruto replied evenly, a nonchalant smile on his face, "It's interesting that you call me brave or foolish with what you're planning to do, old man."

"Do not stick your nose into what doesn't concern you, boy," Hondurra warned.

"A number of Jedi are my friends, so that makes this matter my concern," Naruto shot back evenly, "I don't like it when some big shot wants to sacrifice the lives of my friends for some suicidal attack. Your naivety that a couple hundred Jedi can take on the full might of the Imperial War Machine is something I'm going to snuff out here and now."

"And how will you stop me?"

"I fought and bested Darth Vader in a one-on-one battle," Naruto replied, gaining a few hushed whispers from the surrounding crowd as he raised his hands in a combat stance. "If you can defeat me then I will back off and let you do what you want to do, but if I beat you then you listen to my proposal, without complaint."

"You defeated Darth Vader?" Hondurra asked with a look of pure disbelief, "Now that is quite a boast."

"I have witnesses if you want them, including two Jedi." Naruto replied, hand now resting on the hilt of his katana. "But I'd rather prove my mettle myself than letting stories tell the tale, now are you coming or not?"

Hondurra snapped forward, robes flickering as he moved with speed born from years of practise, lightsaber snapping into his outstretched right hand as he closed in on Naruto faster than the blond had predicted. His azure eyes widened in surprise before he moved, taking a step back and leaning to the side just in time to dodge the azure blade of the Jedi Master's lightsaber as it ignited. The Shinobi felt the sizzling heat from the blade before countering, grabbing the Master's outstretched hand and spinning on his heel, tossing the Bothan through the air.

Hondurra used his momentum, spinning in midair to land in a crouch, ready to pounce forward. Naruto used his precious few moments to draw his katana with his right hand in a backwards grip, and pump wind-natured chakra into the blade. He back-pedalled as Hondurra shot forward, blocking a strike of his lightsaber and locking the two weapons together. They were like that for a few brief seconds, both pressing their weight into their weapons.

"You have some skill," Hondurra allowed.

Naruto smirked, "You'll find I'm full of surprises."

Naruto pushed forward with all his might, overpowering the Bothan and forcing him to backpedal to keep his balance. He followed up with a series of precise sweeps and cuts from his katana, forcing the Jedi to backpedal even more. Naruto might not have one of the most fluent swordsmen around, but he considered himself good enough to hold his ground, spending a year training with the Samurai of the Land of Iron and the infamous swordsmen Shinobi of the Land of Water taught him a thing or two about footwork and swordsmanship.

Hondurra was the better duelist, however, and it soon showed. It wasn't long before Naruto found himself being driven onto the defensive, watching in mesmerised fascination as the Bothan began to move faster, constantly getting in close, attempting to get in under his guard. Then he jumped, feigning a strike which Naruto unconsciously went for and using that split second to somersault over him. Naruto recovered quickly, diving forward, rolling and coming up in a crouch in time to see the Jedi's lightsaber piercing through the air where he once was.

Naruto knew he was at a disadvantage, in a long range fight he would be able to systematically take Hondurra apart piecemeal, but in this close-quarters situation, he couldn't utilise his more destructive Ninjutsu because of the crowd, that meant that Sage Mode and drawing on Kurama was also out of the question; not that he would use his tenant's power in a fight like this anyway. In close-quarters to mid-range battles like this, the Jedi had the advantage because of their telekinesis and swordsmanship. It was like fighting a weaker version of Nagato's Deva Path every single time.

"Good instincts," Hondurra said as he fell back into his stance. "Decent technique, conscious of your surroundings, but I still do not believe you defeated a Sith lord, boy."

Naruto relaxed slightly, bringing up his sword to rest the flat side of the blade against his shoulder. "To be honest, we Shinobi aren't really used to fighting with swords. Our specialty usually lies in long to mid-range attacks, as well as close-range fighting arts and the usage of easy to use weapons like knives and shuriken."

"So you're Force-sensitive?" Kai asked.

"Sort of," Naruto replied, "…but at the same time not really. We utilise an inner strength called chakra instead of the outer strength of your Force. It means we can utilise a different style of ability."

"Oh," the Bothan hummed before his eyes narrowed, "Do not waste my time."

He rushed forward, utilising the force to speed up his movements, and caught Naruto by surprise. He was able to block the first strike, then the second, but the third made him stumble and the fourth sent his katana flying from his grasp, spinning through the air before imbedding itself into the trunk of a tree right to the hilt. He had utilised a force-push there, somewhere between the third and fourth strike. Naruto abandoned the sword, sidestepping and disengaging.

"You have skill, but not good enough, come at me!"

Naruto's smirk turned vicious and in a flash reached into his coat and pulled out a handful of kunai, "If you insist."

Hondurra rushed forward, and Naruto threw his trio of kunai one after the other, watching as their speed made them out as glinting flashes of light which were effortlessly deflected by the Jedi master, who didn't even slow his stride. He once again came dangerously close, and Naruto jumped back and high as he lashed out with a sweeping slash of his lightsaber. The blond reached inside his jacket and unleashed a volley of kunai and shuriken, Hondurra deflected those aimed for him, while at least four of the small throwing weapons imbedded themselves in the ground.

"Wasting my time on these toys," The Bothan snarled.

Naruto made a basic seal with his right hand, "What you call wasting time I call thinking on my feet... bang!"

The small flash bombs tied to the hilts of at least two kunai exploded in a flash of dazzling light, followed by a cry as it blinded the Jedi. Naruto landed on his feet, making the cross shaped seal for his favourite technique, "Basic Shinobi rules pal; look underneath the underneath, one strike is usually a pretext to something else and that's just given me the few seconds I needed... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Where one Naruto stood now there were five, and as one unit they rushed forward, ignoring the surprised and shocked looks on those who weren't blinded by the flash bombs as they peeled off in different directions, surrounding the still-stunned Jedi master. The first one to strike was the one right in front of him, landing a kick to his stomach which sent him off his feet and airborne, the second landed another kick to his back, with a cry of what sounded like, "Nah!", and sending him higher. The one to his right followed up with a third attack, throwing the Jedi master higher with a cry of "Rue!", and then a forth sent him careening into the air with a cry of, "Toe!". Gravity brought him down, but not before the final Naruto jumped high over him, and landed a rotating heel kick which sent Hondurra crashing to the ground with a shout of, "UZUMAKI BARRAGE!".

The five clones got to their feet, four of whom vanished in puffs of white smoke, leaving the real one to watch the fallen Jedi. The crowd surrounding them was silent, surprise and pure disbelief written on most of their faces, "I haven't used that thing since my Genin days; I call it the Naruto Uzumaki Barrage-"

He stopped and whistled as Hondurra slowly rose to his feet, taking in huge gulps of air and obviously affected by the strike, but still on his feet, none the less.

"I should have known it wouldn't work," Naruto said in a dead-pan.

Hondurra reached out with his right hand, calling the unignited hilt of his lightsaber back to him and reigniting it as he stood back up. Naruto watched and waited, reaching for his pouch for a duo of kunai. He still couldn't use any of his Jutsu besides his clones, considering the usual widespread destruction which usually came with unleashing one of his powerhouse techniques, maybe a weak Rasengan would work, unleash a mob of clones, maybe a few weak wind techniques.

"You sure you want to keep this up, old timer? You look a little wheezy," Naruto said with a tight smile.

"Enough," a voice called, piercing through the silence, firm and final. Naruto and Hondurra both looked in the direction of the voice to see the rest of the High Council approaching, led by Masters Yoda and Shaak Ti. It was the female of the duo who had called out to them, and she didn't look thrilled by what she was seeing, "You have made your point quite clear, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto sighed, putting away his kunai and raising his hands in the air as a sign of non-aggression. The whispers began anew among the surrounding Jedi, most of whom were centred on Naruto and who he was. There was a lot of curiosity, but also trepidation and uncertainty among the Jedi gathered, and the crowd had only grown in size since the fight started.

"An interesting display, to say the least," Obi-wan said with a raised brow, "But what was your purpose in beating Master Hondurra to a bloody pulp?"

"For starters, I wouldn't say he's a bloody pulp," Naruto replied disarmingly, "Just had the wind knocked out of him is all. As for my purpose, I just wanted to show that as the Jedi are now, they cannot hope to defeat the Sith."

The whispers got a little harsh in some places, but not as bad as the council would have expected. It was Master Choi who spoke next, "How is that, Naruto?"

"Look around you," Naruto replied, raising his hand in a deliberately slow-sweeping gesture, his gaze settled on Kai Hondurra as he spoke the last few words of his sentence and hit his point home, "Just take a moment and look."

Look they did, and then they saw. There was anger and a wish to fight back, but under the thin veil of bravado there was something else, something worse. The council looked into the faces of the young Knights, Padawans, Masters and younglings assembled and saw exactly what Naruto was getting at. They saw defeat. The Jedi around them looked defeated. It was in their eyes, their gazes and in their very demeanours. This was a defeated mass of people.

Naruto walked to his sword and pulling it from the trunk sheathed it back into its scabbard. He began to speak, and everyone heard him. "There are other ways than blindly running to your deaths. The Empire believes that they have you cornered. The Emperor believes that he has already won, and in the short term, he has. The galaxy is with him, and until that fact changes, you cannot hope to win…but there are other ways."

"Like what?" he recognised Sia-lan Wezz in the crowd and her demeanour mirrored that of every other Jedi, lost and defeated, "What else can we do?"

"Become _Jedi _again, become _true _Jedi," Naruto explained, fist stretched forward only to close and creek under the pressure of his strength. "Become what your ancestors were, the ones I've heard stories about. Those who fought, bled, died and believed in good; the ones who understood what true strength really was. Become the voice of those who have none, become those who fight for justice and truth. Fight against slavery, fight against the criminals, fight against the tyrants, rebuild a base of people who believe in you and what you stand for."

He could see that he had them enthralled now, and used the momentum he had just built with them to drive his point home, "As guardians and peacekeepers of the Republic, you slowly and surely lost the core elements of what made you Jedi! Take them back! Prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are not those mages and sorcerers hiding away in their ivory towers! Prove that you fight for those who cannot fight for themselves! Prove that you stand for the innocent and the victims! Prove that you are the ones who stood up against a tyrant, who drew your weapons against insurmountable odds, and shouted to the forces of evil and darkness in a unanimous, undeniable voice 'no more, this is as far as you go!'."

Naruto looked upon each member of the council and the sea of faces surrounding him, seeing nods of agreement and smiles of hope, "Become Jedi again! Through that, the Empire will fall. Through that, the Jedi Order will rise again, stronger…better! Fighting the Empire head on is suicide, but undermining them, subtly opposing and stopping them in their darkest moments, that is how you will gain strength, and through your strength, the Jedi Order will once again stand tall!"

There was silence for a long moment, and for but a moment, Naruto had thought that his words had fallen on deaf ears. Then someone began clapping his hands together, and the blond Shinobi looked about to see Tholme, then T'ra Saa joined in, followed by the youngest in Fy-Tor-Ana, others joined in, Obi-wan and Shaak Ti, even Yoda seemed to agree with his heartfelt statement. One by one the Jedi in the crowd joined in as well, there were whoops and cheers, and through it all, Naruto saw his friends in the sea of faces.

The Grand Master hummed, and slowly the clapping ceased, "Need your help, we will. Truth in your words, there is, and much wisdom I sense, much wisdom. Accept your offer, we of the high council do, unless, against this wisdom, someone objects, hmm?"

It was obvious who he was referring too, and Hondurra knew it. He rose to his feet, and with a sigh of defeat bowed his head to both Naruto and the council, "I apologise for my outburst. I allowed my feelings and emotions to get the better of my judgment. If this council wishes it, I will stand down from my post."

"Denied, your resignation is," Yoda responded with a shake of his head, "Dark and uncertain times ahead, we face, and require effort from all, we will. A different opinion on the council is needed, one that may aid us in steering away from the path of destruction."

Hondurra paused for a moment, before bowing his head, "Of course, Master. I live to serve."

"Hmm, good, good," Yoda nodded, tapping his stick against the ground before turning around and making his way back to the confines of the council chambers, "Follow, yes, follow. Over, this meeting is not. Ask for the presence of Naruto Uzumaki and Knight Aayla Secura, we do."

Aayla blinked, surprised that she had been called, before nudging her way through the crowd of curious faces and catching up to Naruto. The atmosphere had changed. Her lover's plan seemed to have worked. The Jedi didn't seem so lost or defeated anymore! They were chattering and strategising, forming into groups to speak of what they had just witnessed.

She gave him a half menacing glare when she caught up to him, "Going on a walk, my ass."

Naruto shrugged, having the nerve to look innocent, "I never said I was going for a walk, you assumed I was going for a walk."

"Naruto?" Aayla asked.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," she answered.

Naruto shook his head in bemusement, "Alright, alright."

"Naruto?" she asked again, this time with less annoyance in her tone.

"Yeah?"

Aayla looked up at her love with a warm, grateful smile, "Thank you."

A smile spread across his face in response, hiding away his feeling of guilt, "You're welcome."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__After a small absence I return, sorry for the small wait but I was busy with life, mainly a job which I can't decide if I like or hate (call centres, I spend 4 yrs becoming an Architectural Technologist and I end up working in a bloody call centre?)... and coming up with potential new arcs for this story. I have a few ideas but at the same time I don't want to get bogged down into something and have my muse go on strike like he did in the middle of the Murr Talisman arc, so I have to be a little careful and make sure I don't lose interest. Because let's face it, when you walk into the proverbial dead end trying to write your way out of it becomes very difficult. I got that problem with a few of my earlier stories and I haven't been able to remedy their situations and I am determined that this one, which I enjoy writing about, is not consigned to that list._

_**Author's Note 2: **__As to the sudden duel between Naruto and Hondurra well, I feel that it's well within his character and when I think of a tense situation like this and Naruto, a duel with the leader of the opposition is an eventuality. I also got a few people who didn't like Kurama with a human form, and while I do understand their opinions the whole thing was me trying to be creative... _


	33. Consequence

_**Chapter 32**_

_**Consequence**_

"The plan is bold," Shaak Ti allowed, leaning against her chair as she looked upon Naruto who was now sitting cross-legged in the middle of the makeshift Jedi Council Chamber. The ninja looked unperturbed by the doubtful looks that most of the other Councillors were casting his way. Aayla was leaning against the wall at the edge of the chamber, watching the proceedings closely.

Naruto smiled a little sheepishly, "Hey, you're looking for me to build a galaxy-wide web of espionage and intelligence networks in a few short months…from the ground up, I might add. Even with help, that's a tall order; by myself, it simply isn't possible. Then there's also the fact that you have no hideouts or strongholds, what with all of your temples and enclaves being prime targets. You're going to have to start from scratch on that one as well."

"Agreed…" Tholme said as he too seemed to be deep in thought, "…but what you are proposing is a huge operation, and quite a risky one at that. The logistical needs alone would be considered a huge operation, and will require manpower which at the moment we just don't have. At the very least, we're going to be taxing what little resources we have left."

"I hear we're already well underway," Naruto replied, turning to the youngest Master on the council. "This little lady here and her allies have utilised an old mining asteroid and restored it as a hidden colony. It's just a matter of using the same methods in different areas."

That got the Council's attention, and all eyes turned to the young Fy-Tor-Ana who was looking at Naruto with a frown, "How do you know that?"

"I've made a few contacts in some smuggler rings, one or two of whom have been helping you out…" Naruto replied with a toothy grin, "OH, come on; don't look so bashful. It's a great achievement for you and your friends, and I think we can use that idea for future bases and hideouts! Find an odd abandoned mining asteroid, setup an enclave on an uncolonised planet…heck, maybe we can even highjack a few large ships and make something both mobile and self-sufficient. The possibilities are limitless."

"It is doable," T'ra Saa allowed.

"It is; believe me it is," Naruto replied.

"What about manpower?" Choi asked.

"Don't worry too much about that right now; I already have a friend of mine looking into it," Naruto added nonchalantly with a dismissal wave of his hand, "But he'll probably only be able to get so much. We'll need to find more, but for now at least, an increase in numbers is more likely than not. Tell me about the Hutts and their slave trade."

"You want to take on slaves?" Kota asked, mortified. Naruto saw his mistake immediately and quickly corrected himself. He raised his hands in a placating manner, smiling in apology before he explained what he meant.

"I'm not talking about forced labour or enslavement or anything like that. I'm talking about hitting Hutt and other supposedly-illegal slave convoys. We break in, free the slaves and any prisoners of war, get them out, and offer them either new lives on some backwater world or the chance to join us. I guarantee plenty of them would like a chance to kick those who enslaved them in the teeth, and probably also those who turned a blind eye to it, as in…?" Naruto let his question hang out there for others to answer.

"The Republic…" Hondurra allowed slowly and with a little guilt, "…and by default, the Empire as well."

"Bingo," Naruto nodded his head in agreement, pointing at Hondurra in acknowledgment of his astuteness in answering the question posed.

"This was where you said we should act like Jedi again…" K'Kruhk said with a heavy sigh, "…and I, for one, agree. For too long we've turned a blind eye to the slave trade; perhaps, this will be part of our atonement to those we promised to protect but could not."

"I'm not blaming you for this, Master K'kruhk," Naruto shook his head, "The Jedi became guardians and protectors of the Old Republic, and at its height it was well over a million worlds strong. There was no way a single organisation could follow its mandate everywhere, especially with only a few tens of thousands of Jedi to do so. In a body so huge, there was bound to be corruption somewhere that went unnoticed."

"Old Republic?" Obi-wan asked with a raised brow.

Naruto raised a brow in kind, "By the time we're finished we're going to rid the galaxy of this Empire and restore the Republic, right? Well obviously it'll be called the New Republic or something along those lines."

"I admit that your optimism is a breath of fresh air, Naruto…" Tholme said with a wan smile, "…and something we desperately need, especially now."

Naruto shrugged, "Hey, in this galaxy some of my most precious people are Jedi, and a part of my creed as a Ninja is to always protect those who are precious to me. It's my Ninja way; has been since I became a Ninja. The Emperor and his cronies want to kill those I consider comrades and friends, and that gives them their own pages in my personal bingo book."

"Bingo book?" asked Obi-Wan Kenobi with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, right…" Naruto answered with a sheepish chuckle, "…you guys don't know what that is. Well, the short of it is that it's what we shinobi use to identify targets for capture or elimination."

A series of nods followed his brief explanation. Naruto placed his hands on his knees and rose to his feet, cracking his neck muscles as he did so before looking upon the twelve Jedi who made up the High Council, "But back to the matter at hand: in order for this to work, we'll need some firepower as well. Most Jedi who arrived here were able to gain their own vessels, anything from starfighters to freighters. What do you have?"

"About two, maybe three squadron's worth of _Eta-2_Interceptors, a half-dozen modified freighters and two _Consular-class_Star Cruisers, one of which suffered mild damage in its escape…" Obi-wan listed off with a shake of his head, "…not exactly the makings of a grand fleet."

"But it does have the makings of a…" he turned to Aayla for clarification, "…what was it called, again, Aayla?"

"A flotilla," Aayla added in helpfully with a small smile.

"Thank you, a flotilla…" Naruto said as he looked back at the council with a thoughtful look, "…and what did our friend say his merry little band of rebels had?"

"He was hoping for a _Venator-class _Star Destroyer, but said it would be more realistic for them to have a few squadrons of ARC-170's, a handful of LAAT gunships and a few _Dreadnought-class _Heavy Cruisers…" Aayla replied after a moment before shaking her head and sighing, "…but that's just his best guess, so we still don't know what they'll be able to bring to the table besides themselves and their guns."

"Who exactly are you talking about?" Kota asked with a thoughtful look.

"Who are these possible allies?" Obi-wan added.

Naruto and Aayla looked at each other for a long moment, before the blond sighed and looked back upon the assembly of Jedi, "I had hoped to wait until my man got back to me with their decision. I don't suppose you'll be happy with waiting, will you?"

"It might be better if you just told us, Naruto…" T'ra Saa said softly, "…you seem to be worried that these supposed allies might be someone of whom we would be wary or suspicious."

Naruto looked to Aayla for a moment before looking back at the council, "It started six months ago when we ran into Padawan Tano. With her was a clone trooper: a Captain called Rex."

Some Jedi physically bristled at the mention of a clone, but others seemed a little more open, mainly Obi-wan who suddenly looked a lot more interested, "You know Rex?"

"He's been travelling with us for the last six months…" Aayla piped in, "…Padawan Tano explained that when Order Sixty-Six was implemented, Rex and a few Clone Troopers turned their guns on the platoon they were with instead of their designated targets, and in the fire fight that ensued only Rex and Tano made it out. They were able to escape and live on the run for six whole months before they ran into us. While Naruto was training me, Knight Morne and Padawan Tano in a few of his people's arts, Rex had been searching for clones like him: ones who either protected their commanders or went rogue after the order was given."

"You are sure they can be trusted?" Shaak Ti asked, doubt written on her features. The memories of clones cutting down her fellow Jedi in the very halls of their most sacred temple on Coruscant were still very fresh in her mind.

"I am sure that there are more than a few survivors out there who owe their lives to those clones of the ARC detachments or even to commando units nearby…" Aayla placated, walking to the centre of the chamber to stand beside Naruto, "…believe me, I know how you feel. I trusted my own commander, Bly, with my life, and he would have killed me if Naruto hadn't been there. When I first met Rex I was nervous and didn't feel able to trust him, but he bore up under my suspicion without complaint, eventually earning my trust. And he did save Padawan Tano's life, and since then he has aided us in fighting the Empire very effectively."

"You should have seen him on Kessel…" Naruto added hopefully, "…I'm sure Masters Choi and Swan, as well as Masters Wezz and Darte can back up our story. He blew up a dozen troopers of his former unit while getting them out."

There was silence for a long moment, the twelve Jedi looking at each other, as if they were trying to see what response the main body would make. It was Yoda who stopped any argument, smacking his gimmer stick against the ground to gain the attention of not just Naruto and Aayla, but also of every Jedi in the small makeshift chamber.

"Sure of his character, are you?"

Aayla nodded her head, "Yes Master."

"Also sure of the character of his comrades, you are, hmm?"

"I trust his judgment," Aayla replied.

"We are not trying to undermine you, Knight Secura…" K'kruhk said with a heavy sigh, "…but you trusted this Bly with your life did you not?"

Aayla hung her head at that, but Naruto placed himself between her and the council, looking upon them with an unwavering belief, "I believe him, and I've seen enough fighting men to be an almost-flawless judge of a warrior's character and intentions."

"You are sure?" Obi-wan asked.

"I've only been wrong about such a person once before…" Naruto replied without hesitancy or doubt, "…and that was when I was very young and naive."

There was silence for a long moment before Yoda spoke up, "Then, once sure of their intentions you are, bring them before us, you shall?"

Naruto bowed his head slightly, "Yes."

"They are convening their own council as we speak…" Aayla added, "…once their position is made clear, Captain Rex will contact us with their response."

* * *

"I do agree in the regard that the Jedi are better than the Empire we helped create…" Alpha conceded, sitting in the main chamber of the _Will of Fire_, watching his comrades as they each picked a place to sit, "…the Jedi have been pushed into a corner, much like we have, and together we would be stronger than we ever will be apart."

"However, there is the obvious issue that many of them won't trust us," Frost, a Lieutenant, added with a weary look, "Hell, most of them would probably shoot first and ask questions later, if you pardon the pun, and given what most of their troops did to them, I can't say as I really blame them."

"What Frost means is that we should be careful with how we approach them…" Blast, a commando, replied, "…it can take just one mistake for this proposed alliance to go bad quickly, and then we'll be worse off than we were before."

"I agree with your worries, my friends…" Rex said, leaning against the frame of the corridor leading towards the cockpit, "…and I also agree that we must approach this carefully, but our best means of survival is with the Jedi. If we go back to the Empire then we will receive a short court martial…if it could even be called that…followed by a hastily-made appointment with a firing squad. We are considered traitors of the Empire now, with bounties on our heads equal to that of most surviving Jedi and Separatist leaders."

"Which is why we need to meld with the shadows and make ourselves scarce," Echo, a fellow former Captain, countered mildly.

"If we just disappear, then we won't be able to survive much longer than a decade; not with the way the Kamino cloners made us…" Flak, a former Commander, said harshly before looking at his hand, "…I am probably one of the eldest clones gathered here. I was there on Geonosis when the Clone Wars started, and I can tell you that what you have heard about our anatomy were not rumours, but cold, hard fact. I've been in contact with a renegade clone detachment based on Mandalore, and they're suffering from the same."

"How long do we have?" Rex asked.

"A decade, maybe two or three tops…" Flak replied without pause. "…those on Mandalore are already looking for a way to stop, or better yet, reverse the condition, but they view everyone with suspicion…even us. So I doubt they'll be in much of a mood to share. There are also a few of them with a serious dislike of the Jedi, even though one or two are hiding among them."

"You're talking about the Nuls, aren't you?" Alpha asked with a sigh.

"Yes, I am."

"The six original clone commandos, the precursors to the Alpha batch, trained and adopted by a Mandalorian, completely free and independent of all of the rhetoric most of us clones have succumbed to. The infamous and deadly Nul-class ARC Troopers…" Alpha blew out a breath as he spoke, "…my forefathers, so to speak, and they don't like us Alphas much either."

"It's rumoured that one of them fell in love with a Jedi, that they had a son, and then she died when Order Sixty-Six was enacted, not by the blasters of clones but by the lightsaber of a fellow Jedi…" Rex massaged his temple as he spoke, "…I think it's best that I keep my crew away from Mandalore, then."

"For their safety?" Frost asked.

"No, for the Nuls' safety…" Rex replied with a tone of slight amusement, "…if they did anything to any of our Jedi members then I'm pretty sure the boss would rip them apart piece by piece."

"Who is this 'boss' you speak of?" Havoc, another commando, asked, "You've been hinting at him on and off since this meeting started."

"Let's just say the guy's a walking arsenal, and probably the baddest, toughest son of a bitch I've ever seen; I'd rather face down Darth Vader in single combat than the boss," Rex replied nonchalantly, though the other clones looked at him as if he was insane. Seeing that Rex wasn't joking about preferring Darth Vader as an opponent, however, they all began to gaze at Rex with intrigued contemplation.

Rex decided to keep the meeting moving as he continued, "I'll let you meet him at a later date, but for now I need to know what kind of materiel you guys can bring to the table besides the weapons you carry, any ships or hidden strongholds that might aid both us and our possible allies."

"Altogether, we have a squadron of ARC-170's, half a squadron of V-wings, a handful of LAAT gunships…" Alpha listed them off one after the other, pausing before finishing the list, "…and a _Venator-class_ Star Destroyer."

"About what I thought…" Rex began, nodding, and then stopped, gears in his head turning as he slowly turned back to Alpha, "Wait…could you repeat the last one?"

Alpha blinked, "A _Venator-class _Star Destroyer."

Rex blinked, "You're joking?"

"No, I'm not," Alpha responded with a smirk.

"How the hell did you get your hands on one of those?" Rex almost exploded.

Alpha's smirk grew as he pointed to himself with his thumb, "ARC troopers?"

He said it as if that was all that needed to be said, as if it was all in a single days work for a unit of ARC troopers just over platoon strength to walk onto one of the most powerful warships in the arsenal of the Galactic Imperial Navy and fly her right out from under the nose of the heavily-guarded shipyard facility that the ship undoubtedly must have called home at one point.

"You guys are scary," Rex admitted, astonished at what his colleague had just informed him.

"It's run by my unit, which means we have less than a skeleton crew…" Alpha admitted as he stood up and stretched, "…we were about to ditch her, but I figure it would make a nice peace offering to the Jedi, and also a pretty good mobile base for both of our factions. It's fully-armed and stocked for a three year cruise with a full compliment of several thousand, so there would be no need to worry about supplies in the short term."

Rex blinked at the man for a long moment, and then he broke out laughing, "They're not going to believe this."

* * *

Celeste leaned back and sighed, looking up at the thick canopy above, "He overdid it."

Ahsoka looked over at her for a long moment, a wry look on her face, "This is Naruto we're talking about; when has he not overdone something?"

The millennia-imprisoned Jedi seemed to think for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, "You have a point, there."

"Well, he got the point across," the Padawan said as she looked down from their perch upon the gathering of Jedi below. Ever since the little duel between Naruto and Master Hondurra, all assembled had been talking about it, throwing suspicions, opinions and rumours around without pause. There were some who called him some mercenary from the other side of the galaxy, others called him some Jedi who decided to wander rather than fight, others still had suspicions that he was an Imperial double-agent while several others saw his cloning technique and made the pseudo-right assumption he was from an unknown order of force-users, "I wonder why he didn't use any of his flashy Jutsu, though; that certainly would have gotten everyone's attention."

"It would have…" Celeste allowed. "…but it would have also been catastrophic; his main techniques besides the likes of the Shadow Clone are essentially mid to long-range weapons of mass destruction. There would have been a lot of people hurt if he whipped up a Rasenshuriken or one of his stronger wind or water techniques."

"I suppose…" she allowed as she too leaned back, "…but ya gotta admit, the jerk had it coming."

Celeste gave her much younger friend a wry look, "He's just thinking what many other Jedi are. Why not fight back against the Empire and all the wrong they did to us?"

"Yeah, I agree with fighting the good fight, but through more subtle methods instead of launching a full out attack on them, you know?" Ahsoka replied as she looked up at the canopy, watching the small streams of sunlight break through the thick cover, "…Naruto's right: we can't fight them in open war, and I don't like the idea of becoming some pirate or terrorist group. We need to watch and wait for a time when the galaxy will see what they have allowed to happen, and then be in a position to do something about it when that time comes."

"What should we do in the meantime, then?" Celeste asked.

"Exactly what Naruto said we should do: use the Empire's extensive reach to our advantage, train, grow stronger, become Jedi again…" the girl replied as she looked over at her friend, "…rebuild our numbers, help those in need of help, protect the weak and strike out against the oppressive and the corrupt."

"Sounds like a good cause; a noble and worthy cause…" Celeste allowed with a heavy sigh, "…but one needs to be careful to stick to that cause no matter what happens. There will be those who will believe in and fight for the Empire, not because they are corrupt or evil but because they actually believe that it is the best course towards peace and order in a chaotic world."

"If the galaxy still wants the Empire to remain in the place of the Republic then so be it…" Ahsoka allowed, "…but not under the Sith."

"Then should the ones to lead and rule this Empire be the Jedi?" Celeste asked.

"No…" Ahsoka replied without doubt, "…it is not our way to become rulers. That is for the people to decide."

Celeste looked at the young woman for a long moment with a wistful smile, "You have a lot of good in you, young one, and so much more faith in the greater good than me. I believed in the Republic during my time…and why not? For back then, it was strong and unbendable. Strengthened by war, prepared to defend itself against any foe…" her wistful smile became a saddened one, "…but a lack of an enemy to fight made the Republic weaker; the enemy came from within rather than without, and without a proper force to police the Senate and the Greater Republic, it became nothing more than a corrupt bureaucracy, a farce of what it once was."

Ahsoka looked at her friend and studied her for the longest moment. Within the span of a heartbeat, she saw within Celeste a weaker, yet still apparent, degree of faith in the Republic and what it stood for, "Didn't you believe in the Republic during your time?"

"Of course I did…" Celeste replied, "…but look at what's happened. To be honest, such a thing can drain the faith of even the staunchest supporter. It might be that I was not there during a few millennia but when I see what has happened between my time and now…truth be told, I can't help but feel so…angry."

Ahsoka saw her friend's hands ball into fists and begin shaking. She saw Celeste bite her bottom lip, and knew instinctively what she meant. She may have been a Jedi removed from the Order through a combination of space and time, but even she could feel the anger and betrayal of those around her, made even more pronounced because of her faith in the Republic before her imprisonment. It must have seemed like someone stabbed her in the gut since the moment Darth Vader fought her on that unnamed moon.

The Padawan placed an arm around her friend's shoulder, smiling softly as she spoke. "Have a little faith…if not in the Jedi or the Republic, then in Naruto and Aayla and what they are trying to do."

"Have a little faith, huh?" Celeste asked as she leaned into her friend's embrace, smiling softly as she looked over at the huge trunk which housed the council, "I have complete faith in them, and they will forever have my trust and loyalty. I believe in them, and I believe in you and Rex. That is enough for me."

Ahsoka looked at her friend, "It sounds like you're not planning on returning to the Jedi."

"Mm," Celeste agreed as she leaned back, placing her hands behind her head as she spoke. "I was a Jedi in an ancient era, and the Order I know is long gone…and I must admit that I don't like what the Jedi Order has degenerated into. I think I'll give being a Shinobi a go instead; after all, I'm already trained in the arts, even if it is only a little."

* * *

"_They agree."_

Aayla breathed a sigh of relief at the statement, while Naruto adopted a grin so wide that it forced his eyes shut. The centre of the chamber had been taken by a portable holographic-projector through which a life-sized, amber-hued hologram of Rex stood tall and proud, looking upon the gathered council of Jedi Masters as well as his two friends.

"Good to hear," Naruto grinned widely as he spoke, "So what can they contribute besides being a battalion's worth of battle-hardened elite warriors?"

"_A squadron of ARC-170's, half a squadron of V-wings, a dozen LAAT gunships…"_ Rex was grinning at the end of the statement, a twinkle in his eye as he voiced the final part of his answer, _"…and a Venator-Class Star Destroyer that's fully armed and stocked for a three-year tour of duty…and that would be assuming that it had its full crew compliment."_

"A _Venator_?" Choi asked with barely restrained disbelief.

Rex looked in the small Masters direction, _"Indeed, Master Choi, and the clones who took it are more than willing to share her as a joint mobile base. It would be a safe place to keep the younglings and those Padawan Learners who have lost their__Masters."_

"Sounds cool…" Naruto said with a smirk, "…we're going to need to set up a rendezvous to unite and strategise. I take it you've told them of my plan?"

Rex got a mischievous glint in his dark eyes as he spoke, _"Of course I did, chief…and they loved it. Just the idea of using their skills to protect the weak and helpless got my brothers in arms really fired up and ready for action. Of course, when I informed them that I'd rather face Darth Vader in single combat than you, that might have given them a push in the right direction, as well."_

Naruto chuckled as he answered, "Good to know."

"_A few of the boys would like to say hi to their Jedi officers as well,"_ Rex added with a small smile, _"It'll be good for them to meet their comrades again; you won't believe how close many of these guys came to killing as many as they could before falling themselves."_

"I have one of those old generals in attendance, Rex," Naruto smirked, looking behind him just in time to see Obi-wan step into the light, Rex's eyes widened in surprise before softening in friendly recognition.

"_Good to see you again, General."_

"You too, Rex…" Obi-wan smiled as he looked upon a man whom he still considered a friend, "…you look well."

"_Thank you, General…"_Rex replied with a grin, _"…you don't look__so bad yourself."_

"You can dispense with addressing me as 'General', Rex…" Obi-wan waved him off, "…I have always considered you my equal, and now you are outside of my command; there's no longer any need to refer to me as 'General'."

"_Maybe so…"_ Rex replied with a smirk. _"…but you will always be my General, sir, and the commander of all assembled here. Most have served under you at some point, and they consider you our commander-in-chief."_

Another clone stepped into the light, garbed in the armour of an ARC trooper, but Obi-wan knew him immediately and a small smile of relief and happiness fell upon him, "Hello Alpha."

"_Yo, General, I know I may be a little late…"_ Alpha replied in greeting before snapping a fully professional military salute, or it would have been if not for the smirk, _"…but I've brought my brothers with me, and we're ready and willing to serve alongside our brothers and sisters of the Jedi Order once more."_

Obi-wan let out a breath before grinning for the first time in a long time, "Then we will rely on you, Alpha."

Alpha smirked, _"The ARC troopers and commandos have decided that Rex would best serve as our ranking commander, sir, but we're here to help and we're here to protect our friends and comrades-in-arms. The Star Destroyer was captured by my men and me, and we're willing to share it with the Jedi; you may feel free use it as a safe haven for those who need protecting. We've already taken the pleasure in renaming her from_Resolution_to_Refuge."

"_Refuge_ sounds like a good name, Commander…" Obi-wan smiled as he spoke, "…A fine name."

Alpha returned his smile, _"We thought so too, sir."_

Rex took over addressing the assembled Jedi Council, "_There are a few goals that we have, but we can discuss this more at our meeting. It'll be on the_Refuge _in a few days' time; we'll be waiting for you and your representatives in the Besh Gorgon System. Coordinates have already been sent."_

"Representatives will be sent, rest assured," Shaak Ti spoke up with a slight bow, "May the Force be with you."

"_Likewise,"_ Rex nodded before the hologram fizzled out, leaving the hollowed-out chamber in darkness for several moments before the lighting rose again.

"Hmm," Yoda hummed, gaining the councils attention. "Much has happened this day. For now, adjourned this meeting is. Begin anew tomorrow, we will."

The Jedi all nodded one by one, before rising to their feet and filing out of the chamber. Aayla and Naruto followed them, the blond leaning towards her and speaking softly enough for only her to hear, "There's something I need to tell you."

"Knight Secura, a word with you, I wish to have," Yoda's aging voice called from behind them.

Aayla turned around, slightly surprised, not only that she had been called but that he was still in his chair, before nodding her head. She noticed almost immediately that Naruto was looking right at her, a little shade of worry in his expressive blue eyes, and she managed a smile and a nod before turning to the form of the Grand Master. The blond got the subtle hint, and with a moment of hesitancy turned around and left the chamber.

Aayla walked until she was barely a meter away from the Jedi master, coming down to her knees as she sat down and waited for him. He had his head bowed, and a solemn look on his face which worried her. Like most Jedi, she had grown up under this creature's tutelage. He was always there, with a calming aura and a fatherly smile. To so many Jedi, he was the immovable rock, the ageless one who never seemed to change, the teacher, the parent, the protector.

He only ever had this solemn look when he had heard bad news, "Fallen to your emotions, you have, Knight Secura."

Those words sent a chill down her spine, and she raised her head to look into his ageless eyes, which seemed pained and saddened. She immediately felt a tightness constrict around her heart. He knew about her relationship with Naruto. He didn't need to say anymore than what he had already said. She could attempt to lie, but she would only feel pitiful and cheap if she did so. Instead, she lowered her head like a young child caught doing something she shouldn't by a parent, and hated herself for it.

"Yes, Master."

"Tell me, the boy did not…" Yoda said heavily before the thought could pierce her suddenly foggy mind, "Allowed me into his mind, he did. A show of trust, it was. Abused his trust, I did, and delved further than I should have."

She looked up into the eyes of the first among the Jedi, feeling that what he was saying was the undeniable truth. That was what Naruto wanted to speak to her about; that was why she saw worry and guilt in his eyes. She sighed lightly, opening her eyes to look upon the floor of the chamber, "He must blame himself for this."

"Deny it, you do not?"

"No, I do not deny it, Master…" she replied with a shake of her head, looking up and locking eyes with him, "…I have committed the taboo. I have allowed myself to fall in love with him, and have given into my emotions. I will not deny what I feel for him, nor will I turn my back on it."

"Know what this means, you should…" Yoda said, gaze hardening slightly, "Emotions, a Jedi must not feel, for a path to darkness, they are. Manipulated by emotions, Anakin Skywalker was, and so many perished because of it."

"I understand, Master, and I am willing to accept any punishment…" Aayla replied as she looked up to the Grand Master, "…but I feel that we, the Jedi Order, are as much at fault as he is. Anakin chose to become Darth Vader because of fear and indecision, this much is true, but the failings of the Jedi Order contributed much toward bringing Anakin to such a decision. If we had only been there and held out a helping hand to him, would we be in this situation now? Would he have fallen as he has?"

For the briefest moment, the Grand Master remembered that time in his meditation chambers, barely a few days before Order Sixty-Six, when Anakin had come to him for guidance on a vision he was having. That meeting had plagued him for so long, and more than once he had lamented that he should have seen through what he now realised was a hastily-raised facade, and a subtle plea for help.

"There for a reason, the Code is…" Yoda said, feeling how hollow his voice seemed to sound as he looked down upon this young woman, perhaps one of the finest Jedi he had seen in a generation. His heart began to break the moment he saw her shoulder slump, "…a decision, you must make, Knight Secura."

For moments that felt like an eternity, silence reigned in the chamber. Aayla remained still, her head bowed and looking at the ground as Yoda waited. Finally, she sighed, and the Grand Master saw a glint of light as a tear left her cheek and fell to the ground. It was over quickly, and slowly, Aayla rose to her feet, hand rising to wipe her grief from her features before she looked upon him as stoically as she could manage.

"I understand, Master…" she replied as she reached for her lightsaber. Unclipping it from her belt and holding it out before her, the hilt rose from her telekinetic ability and floated between them until it was in front of the Jedi Master. Yoda held out a three-clawed hand to catch it when she abandoned her hold as Aayla announced, "…I, Aayla Secura, hereby relinquish my rank as Jedi Knight, and hereby resign from the Jedi Order."

She looked up at him, and there was so much pain in her dark eyes that Yoda felt it in his very soul. He heard Naruto Uzumaki's words in his mind. In a heartbeat, his grip on his gimmer stick tightened until he heard the wood creak under his clawed fingers.

_"I beg of you, do not blame Aayla for this. Although she has said otherwise I know that her greatest source of strength and pride is in her being a Jedi. To lose that, even now, would hurt her more than almost anything else."_

"Accept your resignation, the Council does," Yoda said, speaking for the Order he represented, feeling almost mechanical as he looked up and steeled himself for what he was about to see. Aayla looked lost and frightened, hiding it behind a hastily-raised wall of bravado which would crumble as easily as paper.

"Thank you, Master," she said, her own tone just as mechanical as Yoda's own posture, as she rose unsteadily to her feet and turned to walk from the chamber, leaving her life as a Jedi behind her. She didn't know how she was able to walk, let alone make it outside where Naruto was waiting for her.

He saw her distress almost immediately, and was by her side to catch her as she collapsed, her strength leaving her the moment she left the confines of that chamber. She shook in his arms, and his own guilt increased tenfold for it, "Aayla-"

"I thought it would be easier than this…" she said in a shaky voice, looking down at her feet as the tears flowed from her eyes, "…my legs feel like jelly, and I can't stop shaking."

"I'm so sorry," Naruto said with the deepest meaning.

"It's not your fault; I knew what would happen the moment I chose to walk this path with you…" Aayla replied with a brave smile, as her tears streamed down her cheeks, "…and I would change nothing if I could go back and do it all again. It's just…it hurts so much, I can barely believe it. Please, just hold me for a while."

Naruto nodded and held her, allowing her to cry ever so softly onto his shoulder. He did not care for the few Jedi guarding the small chamber between them who were looking at the scene with a mixture of confusion and uncertainty. All that mattered was that the love of his life was in terrible pain and anguish, and he would be there for her. This was his fault after all, and he was more than willing to take full responsibility for it.

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__Now here is the big question, why did I do it? This whole chapter had a lot of planning, and a potential alliance, but the real strike home would be the scene with Aayla and Yoda at the end, I know I'll probably get some flak for this, and I know all of the arguments for. Just trust me when I say that I have a plan._

_The next chapter will see more of this, so I ask that judgement be reserved until you read the whole arc. Myself and ncpfan are literarily burning oil to make sure the next chapter is done right, so have a little patience, also this arc, which at the moment I am dubbing the High Council Arc, will soon be drawing to a close, and action will be commencing again pretty soon._

_Does this count as a cliff-hanger?_

_I'll let you decide_

_Peace out_


	34. Moonlight Solstice

_Chapter 33_

_Moonlight Solstice_

Naboo was a tranquil planet: one of beautiful meadows, misty forests and deep clear waters, brimming with life in almost every corner. There were two races living on this seemingly perfect world: human settlers who called themselves "The Naboo", and the indigenous amphibian inhabitants known as the Gungans. In the centuries since the landing of the first emigration ships, the two races had existed in accord with a fragile truce. This truce had turned into a strong alliance thanks to the invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation nearly a decade and a half ago.

It was also the home world of the love of his life…a love which he had lost. Darth Vader lamented on this as he stood upon a balcony of his master's personal villa, looking down from his perch upon the impressive courtyard below. His master's villa was an impressive structure, built into a mountainside, surrounded by nothing but a seemingly-endless savannah that was dotted only by lush green hills. The main villa was built into the side of the mountain, with a courtyard carved from the plateau a dozen meters below, richly decorated with well-trimmed gardens, cobblestone pathways and a single fountain of perfectly-polished marble built into its centre, the water flowing from its spout giving the marble a magnificent shimmer that evoked an almost-benevolent feel.

There were also other, far less welcoming aspects to this private villa as well, such as the hidden blaster cannon emplacements built into the walls surrounding the courtyard, the umbrella shield defence which could be activated at a moment's notice, or the huge storage facility within the mountain's base full of artefacts and laboratories dedicated to researching the darkest aspects of the Force and beyond. The villa also garrisoned a battalion of Stormtroopers, the latest addition to the residence since his master assumed the mantle of Galactic Emperor.

It would take a small army to breach these walls, with superior air support and an atmospheric vessel whose firepower matched that of an _Imperial-class_Star Destroyer. The Sith Lord looked down upon the courtyard, noticing a small column of men and women marching into the central foyer, dressed in a simple black tunic and pants yet carrying themselves with the air of soldiers.

"Impressive, are they not?"

Vader did not even turn as his master joined him on the balcony, dressed in his usual black robes, hood over his head hiding his pale and terribly-burned features. The proclaimed first Emperor of the Galactic Empire looked down upon the soldiers assembled with a small smile, watching as they came to a stop, turning as one in their direction and standing at attention.

"Indeed…" Vader replied after a moment of hesitancy, "…though I was expecting more."

The Emperor did not look at his apprentice as his gaze fell upon the small contingent of men and women before him, "As did I, but it appears those with chakra coils are considerably more rare than we were led to believe. I have tested twenty percent of the Imperial army, including around ten percent of the Stormtrooper Corps and fifty percent of non-combatants. Of those several hundred thousand non-clones, only a few hundred had the sufficient chakra coils to be considered potential Shinobi."

"Non-clones?" Vader asked.

The Emperor's jaw tightened somewhat, "It appears that the clones do not possess strong enough chakra coils for Shinobi training. This can either be through some deficiency in the cloning process or simply the fact that Jango Fett did not have the necessary coils to use chakra. Either way, as candidates for potential shinobi, the clones are useless."

"I see," Vader allowed as he noticed movement in the courtyard.

"This is an experiment, Lord Vader…" the Emperor informed as he too looked down upon the courtyard, "…an experiment to see if it is possible to gather and use such a force. With a trained small army of such troops at our disposal, our enemies will fall before us like blades of grass."

"But the other Shinobi is still out there, and with each new piece of information we gather, we learn that he has chosen the side of the Jedi…" Vader said, hooking his thumbs under his belt as he spoke, "…what if he can train the survivors to utilise his abilities?"

"Hmm…yes, his latest little escapade with you on Kessel does indeed show that he is fighting alongside our enemies…" Sidious hummed, "…however, there is no need to worry yourself about a horde of Jedi who can use this chakra network. I have been doing some research on the possibility. Of the few thousand Force-sensitive potential recruits I have checked only a small percentage of them also have a chakra pool. In fact, it is more common among those individuals who do not have Jedi potential."

Vader rolled the idea in his mind, seeing immediately what this meant, "The Force and this chakra system are not linked?"

"Very good, Lord Vader…" the Emperor smiled under his hood, "…there are those, mind you, capable of wielding both, but that is rare, and all research points to the likelihood that the two are completely separate from each other. I have checked this man's midichlorian level, and it is abysmally low: only a thousand or so."

Darth Vader turned this information over. He was not worried of any outside listeners to this conversation. The entire villa was airtight, swept for listening devices at least four times a day and guarded by only the newly-crowned Emperor's most loyal Guardsmen. This was the most secure location in the entire Galactic Empire.

"What else has your research yielded, my master?" Vader asked.

"Oh…" the Emperor drawled in a grandfatherly way, "…are you curious to see if you are able to harness this chakra network, Lord Vader?"

Vader said nothing.

"I have had tests performed on all high-ranking officers and politicians in the Empire, including you, and I have found that in your current form, you would not be able to utilise it. Your injuries have most likely destroyed or severely damaged the fragile strings of the circulatory system, as well as your coils. Even if they were fully intact, your chakra network is quite weak; you could probably utilise some basic abilities, nothing more."

"And you, my master?"

"It would seem that age also plays a role in the ability to utilise chakra…" the old man replied with a humming chuckle, "…it appears that if the chakra circulatory system is not activated, then it will slowly degrade until it becomes useless. If I did have the ability, then it is long since gone."

"Have you checked earlier samples of your blood?"

"I do not dwell on the past, Lord Vader…" Sidious interrupted simply, "…I only focus on the here and now. If I once had the ability to do so, it makes little difference to me."

Vader nodded, deep in thought until a flicker of movement caught his eye. He looked down upon the figure, black cloak flailing behind him as he walked towards the column of potentials. This man, simply known as the Assassin in the Imperial Archives, was a complete unknown to those not considered members of the Emperor's inner circle; even Vader himself was not made privy to half of this man's details, and he did not require it.

Vader learned all he needed to know on Kessel, seeing this man slay a Jedi Master before he knew what hit him, moving with such speed and striking with such precision that even he would consider the man a challenge to defeat. He did not forget that skirmish they had on the rainy planet of Jabiim, when this man, malnourished and delirious, was able to systematically annihilate at least three platoons of clone troopers as well as a trio of Imperial Shadow Guardsmen in the time span of a few weeks.

He was a foe to be reckoned with.

The man, who now called himself Sasuke Uchiha, came to a stop before the first man on the far right side of the column, and slowly scrutinised him before moving onto the next one, and the next. One by one, he inspected each and every member of this two- to three-hundred strong column, a process taking hours, yet Vader and Palpatine waited until three quarters of the way through his inspection when the Emperor turned and bade his new apprentice to follow.

Vader followed the Emperor without question, through his main penthouse and into the elevator at the end of a long and narrow hall, ignoring the slight feeling of inertia as the vibro-lift took them from the top floor to the courtyard level in a matter of a handful of seconds. The Emperor exited, and he followed his master, flanking him as the indomitable shadow he was.

They entered the courtyard, walked down the cobblestone pathways and past the masses of flowers and trees, Vader kept pace with his master as they exited the thick foliage and into the courtyard proper. The Assassin was waiting for them at the front of the column with a data-pad in his hand.

He waited until the Emperor was right in front of him, and Vader noticed that, like himself, this man stood nearly a head taller than Darth Sidious. He looked upon the Emperor of the Galactic Empire with calculating, dark eyes of onyx before handing him the data-pad. Palpatine took it from him, activated it, and scrutinised the names, frowning for a short moment before handing them back to the Assassin.

"There are only twelve names on this list," the Emperor said with a frown.

"Mm," the Assassin replied evenly, not looking the least bit intimidated that he was before a man who commanded nearly a million worlds.

"Why have you chosen so few?" Palpatine asked.

"They interest me…" the Assassin replied, simply and to the point, "…that is all."

Palpatine's eyes met and held those of the Assassin for a long moment, before the Emperor sighed and turned around, "Very well. Do with them what you wish, but I want my force of Shinobi, boy. Do not forget that."

"Hn…" was the Assassin's only response, and after a moment Palpatine sighed and turned around, walking from the chamber and allowing the clone officers to call out the names of those his newest servant had chosen. The rest would be sent back to their posts until they were called upon again. Vader hesitated for a moment, before spinning on his heel to join his master.

"This is most disconcerting," Palpatine murmured.

"Why, my master?" Vader asked.

"Because those twelve were the most rebellious on the list, each of them has at least three court-martial appeals and five injunctions upon them by their commanding officers…" Palpatine replied as he continued to walk, "…he is gathering those who have a grudge against authority, those with histories as outcasts, rebels and those who are otherwise the dregs of society."

"Should I dispose of them?"

"No, let us instead see how this plays out…" Palpatine replied, with a serpentine smile spreading across his features, "…the results could be rather…interesting."

Vader did not respond, choosing instead to look back to see the Assassin standing in the middle of the courtyard, looking at him with piercing eyes of onyx as the few hundred potentials filed away to leave twelve recruits, ten males and two females, all of near-human or humanoid descent, standing rank and file, six across and two deep.

He felt it in his very bones and mechanics as he looked into the Assassin, Sasuke Uchiha's, eyes. They were making a mistake…a very grave mistake.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he sat cross-legged on the ground just outside his tent, pouring over the information displayed on the data-pad in his hand. Midnight was just approaching, an ancient glow-lamp which was softly swaying back and forth overhead his only source of light besides the glow from the data-pad itself. Aayla was in their tent, sleeping surprisingly soundly considering the life-altering decision that had just been forced upon her a few short hours earlier. Naruto didn't want to wake her, especially with how exhausted and spent she had been since returning from the council chamber. He had to physically walk her from the chambers to their tent, only choosing not to carry her because he knew she wanted to gather and use as much of her own strength as she possibly could – even though she was no longer a Jedi, she still wanted to carry herself like one.

As he studied over the data-pad and reflected back on the day's events, so many different emotions coursed through him for several different reasons. He was angry that Yoda had given Aayla such a black and white choice, but he couldn't help but feel relieved that it was Yoda himself giving her the choice instead of the Jedi High Council in its entirety. Had the whole Council been involved, the outcome could have been far worse – not simply for Aayla, but for many others, and for the Jedi Order as a whole. Who knew what could have happened had Tholme and Tra'Saa's relationship, and their feelings for each other, had come to light? What was left of the Order could have potentially fallen apart at the seams if its members were forced to follow a code that two of its top leaders were violating, if only in spirit. Even worse, Naruto knew that it could have caused some of the more overzealous Councillors to call for a witch hunt!

What might have happened to Dass Jennir? Would Quinlan Vos and his new family have been made targets? Such a witch hunt would never have been justified, anyway, but that was the last thing that the Jedi Order, essentially an organism on life support, needed right now. At least the leader of the Jedi had the discretion to give her the choice apart from any others overhearing. He could also see why the aging master reacted as he did, with similar situations before. He still felt angry though; Yoda wasn't looking at the perspective from every angle – the code would never allow a Jedi to have sufficient relational experience upon which to draw to consider the other side of the coin.

In Naruto's mind, it was the Code itself that was the problem. Yoda and the other Jedi Masters might argue that fear, anger and hate were the path to what they called the 'Dark Side of the Force', but Naruto knew better. There were times when fear was wise, and caused a person to better prepare for the road ahead. There were certain injustices and evils to which anger was a good, just and right response. They claimed that emotions were what led a person to evil, yet it was those very same emotions, their consciences, that served as a person's guide in distinguishing moral right from wrong, Jedi or no. And it was those very ideas of moral right and wrong that statute laws, such as the Jedi Code, were founded on.

He could hear Kakashi-sensei telling him, "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon so much as one of their comrades are far worse than scum." It was a lesson that he took to heart. It was that very lesson that caused him to keep chasing after Sasuke Uchiha, and while that pursuit ended very badly, it only served to teach him to better know when to stop considering someone a comrade. The lesson was still true, and it would never cease to be any less true to him. The Jedi Code did not allow for such a lesson, and if the choice between following the Code and standing by a comrade ever came up, the very mindset of the Jedi Order would cause the Jedi to make the wrong choice, in Naruto's opinion.

He remembered Haku's words, "When you are protecting what's precious to you – that's when you become truly strong." The very words that laid the foundation for Naruto's ninja way seemed so contradictory to the Jedi way. If emotion was not allowed, nothing could truly be considered precious. Granted, the Jedi were able to circumvent this line of reasoning by forging "familial" bonds within the Order itself, but even then, those bonds still seemed to be easily broken simply because of the Jedi Code. It was almost like they were asking for people to succumb to this 'Dark Side' that they all preached about like some bogeyman. When considering the Jedi Order as a whole, he felt frustrated to no end – its precepts contradicted themselves and made no real sense to him!

He returned his full attention to his data-pad, grateful to Aayla and Celeste for providing him with the information on it: Jedi lightsaber fighting styles and katas. Before coming to Kashyyyk, he had expressed an interest to the women in his life about learning some of their basic lightsaber forms, feeling that his chakra reserves could act as a substitute, if not an actual catalyst, for the Force. Even in his interest, he found that he was simply too agitated to focus on the subject material at the moment.

Sighing in resigned frustration, he turned off the data-pad and set it aside. He looked up at the glow-lamp, gently swaying back and forth before looking to the entrance of the tent. He was a little worried about leaving Aayla given the state she'd been in when he laid her down, but she was asleep at the moment. Ahsoka was sleeping in the bedroll across from her, and Celeste was meditating in the low lit quiet of the night a few yards away from him.

He stood up, turned off the glow-lamp and quietly left his comrades' sleeping area, squinting at the low light surrounding him as he walked. Mobile glow-lamps and a few arcane fire torches produced the light outside, though it was dim and cast long and reaching shadows everywhere. He took a step forward, noticing the silhouettes of guards and watchmen here and there, keeping watch over the camp just in case anyone, or anything, unwelcome, managed to slip through the Wookiee patrol perimeter.

His mind was blank as he traversed the camp. He noticed Celeste was so deep in meditation that she seemed not to notice him, and decided not to interrupt her as he continued on his way. The sight of the Jedi Shadow made him think. Celeste had said that she came from an order which allowed such things as marriage and attachment, where the Jedi had families and bonds. What could have happened between then and now to make the Jedi order of this timeline so introverted, what kind of cataclysmic event or series of events would force them to amend the code in such a way?

He kept walking, destination unknown, weaving through the mass of tents and torches until he found himself on the edge of camp. He was greeted by the shimmering surface of a lake, wisps of vapour rising off of its surface in the night's cool humidity. The natural canopy had parted here, allowing the fluorescent light of at least two of Kashyyyk's moons to bathe the still surface, setting the rising vapours slightly aglow.

Naruto growled low in his throat as he collapsed onto the ground at the edge of the lake, glaring at the still water as a hand came up to rub against his face. The tranquillity wasn't helping his mood much, either. He thought about it for a long moment, before a throaty chuckle reverberated from his throat. He was never the type to remove his pent-up annoyance by thinking of tranquillity and peace; that was Aayla's way. He was the type who needed action.

He rose to his feet, taking off his jacket and sandals and dropping them to the ground in a pile before he concentrated the chakra into his feet and took a step onto the lake's surface. He felt the water lap at his soles as he walked until he was in the approximate centre of the pool, looking up at the light of the two visible moons for a few brief moments before stretching his back, neck and shoulders, cracking the joints beneath them.

He fell into a ready stance and began his flowing dance. He hopped from foot to foot, lashing out with punches and kicks, spinning and jumping and kicking as he practised the Frog Katas he had learned from Gamabunta and the Toads. Yes, this was working – this is what he needed in order to calm his nerves and clear his mind: his harmony came from synchronized motion, not from sitting still. He was always a kinaesthetic person, learning through his body, thinking with his body. If he could move, he could think – it was that simple for him. As he pondered what he was doing, he idly remembered the good memories with his friends: toasting his first cup of sake with them when he was eighteen, practicing with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, laughing, yelling and joking with each other. His good memories were foiled when he remembered his last meeting with the toads, and the argument he had gotten into with Gamabunta and his siblings, Gamahiro and Gamaken.

The last words he remembered hearing from the smoking toad boss stung, even now: _"Jiraiya would be disappointed in you, boy."_

He had been so full of anger and revenge that he ignored the advice of his closest allies, and pushed them away. He would regret that for the rest of his life. The toads never really broke off contact with him, but he never used them in battle ever again, and when he was on Felucia he decided to try and see if he could summon them. His heart ached when the summoning array appeared…only to produce nothing – not even a puff of smoke. If Aayla hadn't been there with him, Naruto would have probably given into his despair after the first failed attempt, plummeting further with the second, then the third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

He couldn't summon the toads anymore. He couldn't stand before Gamabunta and his brothers, fall to his knees and beg their forgiveness. He would never see his two friends Gamakichi and Gamatatsu ever again. Yet another item to add to his list of deep, unsalvageable regrets.

He finished the last Kata, noticing that he had worked up a sweat, taking deep breathes of air as he once again looked up at the bright ethereal light of the twin moons, seeing that he had been at it long enough for them to have shifted in the sky, closer to the edge of the open canopy. He sighed, reaching up with his hand to slick back his messy locks of blond hair as he made his way back to the lakeshore and his discarded clothes.

He saw a dark silhouette sitting beside his jacket and sandals, sitting on the edge, looking at him. Naruto showed no signs of surprise as he advanced, as the familiar visage of one of the men he had met in the Jedi council chambers became plain within the silhouette, wearing a trimmed beard and chestnut-coloured hair. He searched for a name in his mind, finding one as he crossed the threshold between water and sand.

"Master Kenobi," Naruto inclined his head as he picked up his jacket.

"Jōnin Uzumaki," Obi-Wan greeted in turn, also inclining his head, "I see you couldn't sleep, either."

"Yeah, needed to work off a few frustrations," the blond replied as he tossed his sandals to the ground and put them back on, "Some people, like you Jedi, need quiet to clear their heads; I need to work up a good sweat so that I can either stop thinking about things, or start thinking about them."

"Physical meditation?" Kenobi inquired with a knowing smile.

"That's probably the best label for it," Naruto allowed with a good-natured laugh as he put on his long-coat, "I was never able to fully stay still for 'conventional' meditation; I always found that I think best when I'm moving, so fighting imaginary opponents is something I find therapeutic."

"I can see that it seems to work for you," Obi-wan remarked with a nod as he looked out over the lake. Naruto watched him for a moment before deciding to leave. He managed three steps before the Jedi Master's voice caught up to him, "Stay a moment, if you would?"

Naruto looked back at the legendary Negotiator, studying him for the longest moment before shrugging and retracing his steps. For some reason, Naruto found that he liked this man. Even though he hadn't known him for more than a day, he couldn't help but liken the man to his old friend Shikamaru Nara, but with a more positive outlook. He had that same astute, piercing gleam in his eyes, as though no detail went beneath his notice, and his mind was always working, strategizing, planning. At the same time, he also seemed to possess many of the qualities of Old Man Sarutobi, the Third Hokage that he'd come to love almost as a grandfather: wisdom gained through years of hard living and seeing gruesome events, but somehow able to pull the very best lessons from his experiences. He also seemed to possess the old man's near-infinite patience.

He sat beside Obi-wan, looking out over the calm surface of the lake. For a time they sat in a companionable silence, then the Jedi spoke up, "How is Aayla?"

"You know already?" Naruto asked.

"The whole Council knows, and it won't be long until gossip filters through into the rest of the Conclave," Obi-wan replied with a tired sigh, "How is she?"

Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head as he looked up at the starry sky, "Hurt…grieving…a bit scared, I think. She had been a Jedi for so long, and drew such pride from being a part of the Order. She tries to put on a brave smile, but I know her very well. She's not angry, but at the same time, I can see she feels betrayed…it's that much worse for her that it was Master Yoda of all people who forced her to this."

"I am sorry to hear that," Obi-wan replied after a moment, following Naruto's gaze to look up at the sky, "but not really surprised."

"You know her?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, she is a good friend," Obi-wan nodded in response as he looked over at Naruto, "I hope you'll continue to be there for her."

"Without a doubt," Naruto replied, looking back at the Jedi master with conviction, "She is one of my most precious people, _the_most precious person."

Obi-wan allowed a smile, "I am glad to hear that."

Naruto looked at him for a long moment, "Why punish her?"

"It is the Code…" Obi-Wan began.

"It's wrong," Naruto interrupted darkly.

Obi-wan sighed, "It's there for a reason. Anakin Skywalker is living proof of that."

"I'm not so sure about that," Naruto replied as he looked over the lake for a long moment, "He was backed into a corner; felt he had nowhere else to go to but a madman. Tell me…" Naruto turned his gaze to Obi-Wan, "…if he told you or Yoda or someone else among the Jedi as they are now, what would the Jedi Order have done to him? If he felt he could come to you with the problems he was facing, might things have turned out differently?"

Obi-wan sighed tiredly, and Naruto saw it, a true feeling of numb loss in his eyes. In addition to being reminded of Shikamaru and Sarutobi, he had felt something else when he saw this man, a familiarity with him that he could not place until now. This man reminded him of Kakashi, as well, as he seemed to be truly haunted by the choices he made that ended badly.

Obi-Wan sighed, "I ask myself those very questions, every single day, but the whole story is much more complicated than that. I don't know if you knew this, but I was actually Anakin's Master when he was a Padawan."

Naruto adopted an intrigued frown, "Is that so?"

Obi-Wan nodded with a sad, nostalgic smile, "Indeed; his talent and power were astonishing, even as a young boy. Sadly, though, he was always ruled by his emotions, and he allowed them to consume him. His degree of power and talent also made him quite arrogant. Palpatine used Anakin's failings to his advantage, and made sure that those of us who could reach out to him were nowhere near him in his darkest hour: myself, his friends, we were all scattered across the galaxy, too far away to see what was happening."

Naruto was silent for a long moment, "Well, we all have our own buttons that can be pushed, and I can speak from personal experience that he should have known better than to allow his passions to run rampant the way they seemed to, but part of the reason that Anakin Skywalker fell is because he had no one to turn to. The Jedi Code is too strict against attachments, and if what Aayla told me was right, then he loved being a Jedi. I'd wager he didn't want to take it to you or the Council, feeling that when you all found out that he was not only married, but expecting a child as well, he would be expelled from the Jedi Order. I'm only telling you my perspective, though."

"And what you say is true…from a certain point of view; one of the reasons I actually came here was to ask for your perspective on such matters. Aayla was a proud Jedi until today, and at the same time, she didn't renounce her pride as a Jedi, but neither did she recant her position or her feelings towards you. Knowing Aayla as I do, I can't help but be highly curious as to how you brought about such conviction in her, at the very least," Obi-wan said, "However, we all have our own perspectives as well, and those points of view can be interpreted in different ways. Others would say that emotional attachment can lead to such hardships, and the Code needs to be stricter when it comes to them."

"I have so many problems with that line of reasoning that I don't even know where to start. I think that placing such sanctions and restrictions into a statute encourages the Jedi to be emotionally stunted. Master Hondurra's behaviour today was proof of that – he didn't know how to handle the rage he was feeling or what to do with it. The rest of those assembled here were mostly in complete despair and frightened out of their wits – they didn't know how to handle it, either. One doesn't combat extremes by forcing extremes in opposite directions, one combats extremes by simply adding elements that brings about balance…without completely losing what brought about the extreme before the balancing element was introduced in the first place. Feelings are there, whether the Code says they can be or not – instead of ignoring them, I think Jedi need to be taught how to listen to them, and pay attention to the lessons they convey."

"You'll get no argument from me, my friend," Obi-Wan admitted.

"Besides," Naruto continued, "The Code can't exactly get much stricter, can it?"

"There were loopholes, which might be rescinded should we ever return," Obi-wan replied, "The Jedi of Corellia were allowed to form attachments and relationships, and when it came to certain species, extenuating circumstances could be made, however those few loopholes could be rescinded if a few hardliners get their way."

"From talking to you, I get the impression that you're not such a hardliner," Naruto credited the man.

"No, I am not," Obi-wan replied as he looked upon him with a sad smile, "I'm not sure why I'm about to tell you this, but I fell in love with a fellow Jedi. We were planning to leave the Order together once the war concluded."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Obi-Wan reached inside his cloak, around his neck and pulled out a beautiful jewel that glowed blue in the low light, "This warming crystal was hers, and she gave it to me shortly before she died."

"I'm sorry," Naruto offered in condolence.

"Thank you," Obi-wan replied as he placed it back under his tunic.

"What was her name?"

"Siri, Siri Tachi," Obi-wan replied, looking up to the starry darkness with a forlorn expression that time would never heal, "She was an exquisite creature: golden hair, sapphire eyes, a smile that seemed to light up the room, but boy was she headstrong and outspoken – it sometimes made it very hard for her to work with others…but I loved that about her. I thought she was the most beautiful woman in all creation; I still believe that down to my very soul, and I will never forget her for as long as I live."

Naruto smiled as he looked out over the lake, "I know exactly how you feel. Before I came here and found Aayla, I was in love with a woman named Hinata Hyuuga. And she was gorgeous in every way…she had the shiniest indigo hair, and the most warm and caring lavender eyes you'd ever see. It's funny, though…she was always very modest, and quite shy about her body, always wearing baggy clothes, never made herself up…she didn't really need to, though. It was her death at the hands of a once-friend that started me on what you would call 'the Path to the Dark Side'."

Obi-Wan nodded, intrigued at Naruto's story and how well he could relate to his own, "I became consumed with vengeance, isolating myself from friends and allies. There was even another woman that I grew to love, and who had also grown to love me back – her name was Mei Terumi. Oh, she was so different from Hinata, but no less beautiful. Where Hinata was around my age, Mei was almost twenty years older," Obi-Wan raised a bemused eyebrow at that admission as Naruto continued, "where Hinata was shy, Mei was anything but. Mei Terumi had the most fiery red hair you'll ever see, this…" Naruto's hands came up to the area around his head so that he could give Obi-Wan an almost visual perception of what he was trying to say, "…wild, beautiful mane of hair that flared out in all directions and grew all the way down to her ankles, and she had enchanting green eyes that were…playful and mischievous; one wink from her could turn any man's knees into jelly!"

Obi-Wan gave a quiet laugh, seeing Naruto's enthusiasm at describing a woman he could only picture as being quite the sultry temptress.

Naruto's expression grew darker as he continued in a more subdued tone, "Sadly, I was so focused on my anger and on getting revenge that I never gave myself a chance to find out what might have been between her and me. As I had finally attained my vengeance, my enemies had the last laugh as they performed a ritual that actually brought me to this galaxy, here. And it was at that moment when I first encountered Aayla; right as Order Sixty-Six had been implemented. We just…became friends and helped each other through everything after that – I helped her to grieve her fallen comrades, while she helped me to adjust to life in this galaxy. We grew closer, and, well, I don't know if I could tell you exactly when it happened, but we both fell in love with each other, despite both of us being afraid to for different reasons. She'll tell you that it's the feelings she developed for me that actually kept her from proceeding towards the Dark Side, but it's just as true that falling in love with her is what helped me to finally let my vengeance go, so in a sense, we're living proof that such attachments can keep a Jedi from falling to the Dark Side, and even bring you back from it."

Obi-Wan smiled in wonder at this, "I'm glad you told me your tale, Naruto; it adds a perspective worth considering. Oddly enough, I'm reminded of the last conversation that Anakin and I had before we fought. He told me that anyone who wasn't for him was against him, and I told him that only a Sith deals in absolutes. But I find myself wondering now: is that not exactly what we've been doing, particularly with regards to Aayla Secura today? If you'd permit me, I'd ask a question of a personal nature…"

"Please," Naruto permitted with a nod.

"Do your feelings for Hinata or Mei…cloud your feelings for Aayla in any way?"

Naruto frowned in thought, "Fair question."

He thought for a few moments before speaking, Kenobi allowing him the time to collect his thoughts, "My feelings for all of them are different. Hinata is my first love. Mei is my lost love. Aayla? She's my true love. Hinata and Mei will always have their own places in my heart, but if I could go back and do it all over again with the chance of things ending differently, I wouldn't change a thing. I love Aayla Secura more than anything else, and I wouldn't give her up for anything."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but sigh happily for his new friend, "I wish you all the happiness in the world, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, "Thank you…Obi-Wan. So, you don't believe those feelings are wrong for a Jedi?"

"No, I do not," Obi-Wan admitted without shame.

Naruto smiled as he stood up, offering his hand to the Jedi Master with whom he had just forged cameraderie, "Good to hear. I look forward to working with you, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Obi-Wan stood in response, shaking the man's hand, "And I you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto made it a few steps, leaving his new friend to think, before stopping and turning around as he remembered something, "I almost forgot - I have something I need your help with."

Obi-Wan looked up at him for a moment before nodding, "What do you need?"

Naruto reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out the data-pad he had been reading earlier, "I've been doing a little research, and I'm wondering if there are any Jedi capable of looking into matters of anatomy, perhaps an established healer?"

"There aren't many left," Obi-wan allowed as he rose to his feet, accepting the data-pad, "What do you have in mind?"

"I wanted to check the blood work of all Jedi, and any non-Jedi present for a chakra circulatory system," Naruto explained, watching as the High Jedi Master turned on the small computer and looked through the screen of information, "Within that data-pad is something I've been working on with Aayla and Celeste over the last few months. It's a screening test to check and see if anyone might have the capacity to learn shinobi arts."

Obi-wan studied some of the information, "Hmm, I will check around for you. This is a rather fascinating prospect."

"There is also a sample of my blood within it," Naruto added, "I want it to be tested for a midichlorian count."

"Thinking of becoming a Jedi?" Obi-wan asked wryly.

"Nah, not the life for me, at least as it is right now," Naruto chuckled, bringing up his hands, "Just checking is all."

Obi-Wan wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or hopeful at that comment. Opting to err on the side of feeling hopeful that Naruto might become a Jedi in the future, he studied the data-pad even more closely and murmured, "This is very thorough work."

"Aayla and Celeste did most of the work; I just gave them the necessary scrolls and threw in what I knew," Naruto replied as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I'm still getting the hang of electronic machines and computers. Will you look into it for me? A High Jedi Master is more likely to get the needed help than an unknown."

"I will do so," Obi-wan replied with a nod as he shut off the data-pad and hid it in the folds of his robes. He looked up at Naruto with a wan smile, "And please tell Aayla that I'll be coming over to see how she is doing."

Naruto sighed in a little relief, "I think she'll be happy to hear that. I was kind of worried that she'd lose all contact with the Order."

"Whether she is a Jedi or not, she is still my friend," Obi-wan replied, "as are you, now…and if she or you ever need my help, you need but ask."

Naruto smiled, shaking his head in bemusement before throwing out his hand, repeating what he said barely a few minutes before and meaning it more this time, "Likewise. Once again, I look forward to working with you, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Obi-wan smirked as he took this tall blond man's hand and shook it once again, "And I you, Jōnin Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

He entered the tent silently, like a ghost, melding with the shadows and vanishing from all perception. The tent was fairly large, able for four people to rest without crowding it too much, and at the moment there were only two people within, both asleep. He recognised the young Ahsoka Tano immediately, and reflected that she hadn't changed since the last time he had seen her.

Aayla was in the other bed, also in a deep sleep. With a little effort, the diminutive creature made his way over to her bedside. With a wave of one gnarled three-clawed hand, a chair lifted from its place and floated to him, settling down with barely a scrape of sound. He climbed onto the piece of furniture and for a long moment simply surveyed her sleeping form.

Yoda was an old creature, living in the latter half of his eighth century. In eighteen years he would be nine hundred. His race was notoriously long lived. However, even by their standards, he was older than almost any other. He had been the Grand Master for almost three centuries of this life. He had tutored countless students and raised many young men and women of many different races to become fine Jedi.

One would think that this long life would make his memory wane, that he would not remember the faces of each of the many students he had taught. That was simply not the truth. He remembered each and every Padawan he had tutored, and each and every one of them held a place in his heart – even those who had fallen to the Dark Side. Even with their ways, their codes and laws, many Jedi looked up to him and saw him as a grandfather. Even with those codes and laws, Yoda could not deny that he loved the Jedi, each and every one of them, equally and individually.

He remembered Aayla as well: as a young child, a freed slave brought to the Jedi temple by a young Quinlan Vos and Tholme, shivering and hungry. She was frightened by everything she saw. He remembered how she clung onto Tholme's pant leg as if for dear life, as she looked this way and that at the huge cavernous expanse of the Jedi Temple's Main Hall with wide eyes. Everything was intimidating and scary, a normal reaction for a young girl who for so long had seen nothing but concrete walls and cold steel bars.

Then she saw Yoda, and he remembered that she was about the same height as he was at the time. He walked right up to her, took her by the hand, and gently led her on a tour around the Temple, with Tholme and Vos shadowing them. He had taken her aside, told her that she would be okay, that she wouldn't be lonely anymore, and she lit up.

He remembered her as a youngling, a member of a twenty strong training class he regularly conducted on basic lightsaber forms. She gained high scores, made friends easily, and had a smile and demeanour which would light up a room. He remembered her like he remembered each and every other youngster who passed through those walls, from a youngling scared of her own shadow to a beautiful and courageous Jedi Knight.

Was it right to do this now, when so many were already lost?

_"I feel that we, the Jedi Order, are as much at fault as he is. Anakin chose to become Darth Vader because of fear and indecision, this much is true, but the failings of the Jedi Order contributed much toward bringing Anakin to__such a decision. If we had only been there and held out a helping hand to him, would we be in this situation now? Would he have fallen as he has?"_

Yoda knew her words rang with a sense of truth: that if Anakin Skywalker had simply come to him, or Obi-Wan, or half of the Jedi High Council, and if they would have listened to his plight and tried to help, then maybe this whole mess could have been avoided. He had asked for help, subtly, yet Yoda had not seen it. Anakin Skywalker was afraid that if he told any Jedi of his dilemma, then he would be kicked out of the Order, made to live his life in shame and disgrace.

He had asked for help, yet Yoda had not seen it.

"Blind, was I?" Yoda asked himself aloud as he looked down upon Aayla's sleeping form, marvelling at how innocent she seemed. Seeing her now reminded him of that frightened little girl looking at the cavernous Antechamber of their Temple with wide, scared, and fascinated eyes.

Sighing, he reached out, and with his clawed hand, stroked the sleeping girl across her brow just above her eyes. He watched as she stirred with a low groan, eyes opening and hands reaching up to wipe the gum from them before they fell upon Yoda.

She rose with a slight surprise onto an elbow before shooting upright, "Master Yoda?"

He said nothing. Instead, he reached into his robes and produced a lightsaber hilt, the same hilt which Aayla had given to him earlier that day as a sign of her resignation. He closed his eyes, concentrated, allowed the hilt to rise from his grasp and float across the gap between them slowly and deliberately. Wordlessly, Aayla reached up and allowed it to fall into her grasp. She examined the hilt for a long moment before looking back at the Grand Master.

"Patient with me, will you be?" Yoda said as he rose to his feet and climbed down the chair, giving her a small smile in wake of her befuddled look.

He hobbled from the tent, saying nothing further, seeing that his feelings reached her clearly. The Jedi Code would not, could not, be changed overnight. It could take months, even years, before anything could be pushed through. It was too early to push for change, with their only real example being the fall of Anakin Skywalker, but times were changing, and the Jedi needed to adapt to survive. Yoda knew this; he only hoped that with time, others would too. Hopefully, getting the whole story from Aayla and Naruto would give them an example of a different nature for a new point of reference.

He exited the tent, with a new goal and a new purpose. Taking a deep breath of the crisp night air, he looked to his right to see Naruto approaching. The blond man stopped, eyes locked with the smaller creature, unsure of what to do. Yoda offered him a brief nod and a small smile before moving on his way.

He nodded in return, waiting for Yoda to move away before rushing into the tent. The Grand Master could just make out his voice as he spoke softly yet worriedly to Aayla, and allowed his smile to grow when he heard her reply.

"Aayla, are you alright?"

"Yes," he heard the small wistful smile which was tugging on her lips, and imagined her saying so as she looked down upon her unlit lightsaber hilt, "Yes, Naruto. Yes, I think I'm going to be just fine."

* * *

_**Author's Note 1: **__I really need to give a lot of the credit to ncpfan for this one, the basic ideas were laid down by me, but he turned it from something acceptable to something three times better in my mind. We threw a few drafts around here and there, and this is the final result, with an additional paragraph and some checking I think this came out spectacularly well._

_**Author's Note 2: **__While it may not look like it at first glance a lot has happened during this chapter, two in particular. The first is the knowledge that the Emperor is interested in creating his own private force of Shinobi on top of the personal army of force-users he has already attained (big surprise there). Whether this new force is successful or not remains to be seen... as in I have no idea where I will be going with it, lol... well I do have an idea, just not a solid idea... umm, you'll find out as the story goes on... I need sleep_

_The second is the knowledge that finally separate the force and chakra as two different entities, and while it is possible for an individual to be able to utilise both that is rare, which means that the likes of Aayla, Ahsoka and Celeste are rare cases, more information on this will be released in future chapters as Obi-wan and whoever he finds to aide him delve further into the information Naruto and his party have supplied him. This should also close the book on the possibility of an army of chakra enhanced clones running around, never really wanted Rex to be a Shinobi anyway, as I wanted the crew to be more diverse than simply a band of Shinobi/Jedi hybrids._

_There is also the finality that Naruto can no longer summon the toads, an important thing which I have kept on the backburner for too long and a lot of people have been getting on my plate since the story got underway. There will be a few hypotheses thrown around as the story goes on, but I hope that closes the book on that particular subject._


	35. The Art of Winging It

_**Chapter 34**_

_**The Art of Winging it**_

'_Vokara Che…very interesting woman,_' Naruto thought as he watched her from across the room.

Che was a Twi'lek female, roughly the same age as Obi-Wan, maybe a decade older. She carried herself with grace and authority, denoting an incredible inner strength. Tall and regal, with lush, leaf-green skin, and garbed in the robes of a Jedi header, she began to study him with a blunt, unhidden interest the moment he entered her small tent-turned-laboratory.

She and Obi-Wan obviously knew each other, and he knew by their interactions that they were definitely friends. The revered Jedi Master had explained to him that Master Che was perhaps one of the most experienced and talented healers in the Jedi Order, and for a long time was considered the senior healer of the old Jedi Temple's Halls of Healing on Coruscant during the entirety of the clone wars.

She was one of the few senior Jedi that Shaak Ti was able to escape with during the massacre of the Jedi temple, but not before they gathered six terrified Padawan learners and eighteen younglings. They had escaped through the underground catacombs far below the temple mere moments before Darth Vader and the Empire's troops could reach them.

Obi-Wan introduced the two, and quick greetings were made before the Negotiator informed the Chief Healer as to why they were there. She had done all of the research anyway, but she seemed to want Obi-Wan to understand that she was a healer first and foremost, while the role of scientist came a distant second.

She also looked tired, having heavy dark circles and bags under her eyes. Several empty cups of caff on her main desk was also an obvious indicator that this woman had been pushing herself beyond normal humanoid limits. Naruto guessed that she hadn't slept in at least a few days. If what he heard was correct, she was one of a tiny number of healers who survived the massacre. Out of the three hundred odd Jedi present only a half dozen of those were healers.

"We can come back later, Master Che," Obi-Wan said hesitantly, worry for his colleague evident, "It's a bit evident to us that you require rest."

"There is too much to do at the moment, Master Kenobi," the Twi'lek healer replied with a wave of her hand, "Sleep is for the dead, and there are plenty among the living who require my help."

Obi-Wan frowned, but said nothing else. Naruto saw the same staunch determination and lack of fear in her that he saw in many of the more seasoned Jedi, coupled alongside their over-the-top work ethic, demonstrated in their willingness to work themselves into the ground. He was already planning three perfectly applicable scenarios to force her into a sleeping trance, but decided to lay off the potential assault for now.

"What have you been able to find, Master Che, about the relationship between the Force and chakra?" Naruto asked with respect in his tone. He had a feeling that if he tried to speak to her in his usual blunt and irritable manor she would either snap at him…or in the worst case scenario…pull out her lightsaber and try to lop his head off.

She sighed as she studied Naruto closely, "My findings, while somewhat lacking at the moment, given the level of technology we have to work with, tell me that both the Force and the chakra circulatory system are two completely different entities. This chakra circulatory system is unlike anything I have ever seen before; it's so miniscule that I wouldn't be able to find it unless I knew what I was looking for."

"Is there a resemblance, or maybe a link between the Force and this system?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No, there isn't," Vokara replied after a moment of silence and a sigh, "I have gone through all of the data, cross-referenced it with all of the information at my disposal, and I have found nothing quite like it before. It is completely separate from the Force, in some ways it is the complete opposite, an interior energy source originating from the body; the complete opposite of the Force in almost every plausible way."

Both Naruto and Obi-Wan went into deep thought over this discovery, each of them mulling over the information they had just been given. Finally Obi-Wan spoke up, "Have you checked the blood work of the Jedi here to see if they have this chakra network?"

"I have. The results are inconclusive given the number of subjects, but I do have some theories," Che explained, waiting for both Naruto and Obi-Wan to lean forward in interest before she continued, "Out of the two hundred and sixty three Jedi I have tested only one in every twenty have a usable chakra circulatory system, of these subjects all of them are either human or classed as humanoid. I have found no evidence of this system inside any reptilian, amphibian, or insectoid sentient being."

This was indeed information to mull over. Chakra was definitely something that was completely different from the Force, something none of them had ever heard of before, and yet it carried with it the potential for power which could match the abilities of Force users. Obi-Wan mulled over this information for several moments with his arms folded and his eyes closed.

Upon being unable to ascertain anymore from the current level of information he had on hand, he opened his eyes and queried the healer, "What of Naruto - have you checked his blood for a midi-chlorian count?"

"I have," the healer replied with a nod, "His midi-chlorian count is normal - two, maybe three thousand, not nearly strong enough for him to have any remarkable ability to utilise the Force. He has very little ability or talent in it whatsoever."

Obi-wan thought this through, before turning to Naruto with a small smile, "Disappointed?"

Naruto shrugged, "Not really, I'm already super powered enough without the ability to hurl someone through a wall or crush their windpipe with a flexing of my hand."

"Good to know," Obi-Wan responded with an amused smirk, "Considering your inability to remain still for long, you would make a lousy Jedi, anyway."

"Yeah, that's true enough," Naruto replied with a laugh before turning his attention back to Vokara, "Although, I do have one experiment I would like to put through to you, Healer Che."

The Twi'lek healer paid attention to the man's statement, leaning forward slightly to give Naruto her undivided attention, "Go on."

"I have this special phase I can go into, called Sage Mode. I have heard from a few Jedi friends of mine that it increases my ability with the Force. I would like to test it, if I may," Naruto suggested.

"It can be done. Give me a moment so that I can set something up," she replied as she rose to her feet, and made her way to the side of the tent, "I may need some help setting up this machinery."

After a moment of turning on a few computers and picking up a blood-sampler from her desk, the Jedi healer returned, looking at Naruto critically for a moment, "You may begin."

Naruto nodded, took a deep breath and concentrated his chakra, bringing him into Sage Mode. The two masters watched as his eyelids turned red, and when he opened his eyes again they were golden in colour with bar shaped pupils. Obi-Wan and Vokara could already feel the very air around them become heavy.

No words were spoken as the healer stepped forward, pressing the sampler against Naruto's exposed arm and taking the necessary blood she needed for the test. She nodded to him, a silent assurance that he could end the technique, which Naruto did with a deep breath. She shared a look with Obi-wan, before moving to the small data-pad she had switched on, placing the blood sample into the slot.

She studied the information, and her eyes widened slightly in surprise, "It can't be."

"Master Che?" Obi-wan inquired.

"His midi-chlorian levels, they've risen," the healer mumbled as she turned to face the two, "It's over ten thousand."

"Ten thousand?" Obi-Wan asked in evident surprise, "That's about the same level as your average fully trained Jedi knight isn't it?"

"Indeed it is."

"I'm lost here, you two," Naruto mumbled with a slight frown.

"We're talking about the number of midi-chlorians in your blood stream," Obi-Wan informed him, "You see, midi-chlorians are microscopic organisms, much like the symbiotic bacteria found in every living being. Everyone has them to some degree or another, and the more a person has in their body, the stronger their connection with the Force can potentially become. Most people would have an average count of two to three thousand, however Jedi and Sith would have them in far greater numbers. The minimum for training would be seven thousand, and the average count for a fully-trained Jedi is ten thousand."

"Perhaps when he goes into this Sage Mode state, it increases the number of midi-chlorians in his system, acting as…an accelerant of some kind, maybe?" Master Che considered in deep thought, watching the screen of her data-pad, noting that as the seconds ticked by, the number of midi-chlorians in the sample began to fall, "When he goes into this Sage Mode his midi-chlorian count explodes, and then once he deactivates the technique the numbers decline again. This is fascinating."

"Exactly what does Sage Mode do, Naruto?" Obi-Wan asked thoughtfully.

"While in the state, I gain a dramatic increase in my speed, strength, stamina, reflexes and durability. My Jutsu become more powerful, I can harness the natural energy around me into an extension of my body which allows the range of my attacks to increase, and finally, I gain a sixth sense where I can sense the chakra around me to a certain range," Naruto counted this off, remembering faintly the lessons he received from the Toad sages on the subject. He looked on as the two Jedi listened intently, the gears in their heads turning as they processed the information he was supplying.

"I think we should put this to the test," Che said, tiredness from before replaced with an insatiable curiosity. "Naruto, can you activate this Sage Mode again please?"

Naruto shrugged and did so, regaining his toad-like features from before. The Jedi healer looked around, before looking at her data-pad and placing it on the table. "I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on this data-pad. Imagine the data-pad floating into the air. Don't allow your mind to wander from that image."

Naruto pictured the data-pad in his mind, pictured the table it was sitting on, keeping the image firmly in place. He then imagined it rising from the surface, slowly but surely until it was floating a couple of feet above the fold-out piece of furniture. He kept that image in his mind, hearing nothing but silence in the room.

"Well?"

The two Jedi watched in a stunned silence as the data-pad rose from the desk, shaky and with little control, but it did slowly rise from the surface of the table. Master Che took a step forward, and caught the small machine in her slender hand before looking back to Naruto with an appraising look. "Very good, Naruto! This proves my hypothesis about your Sage Mode – somehow, you're borrowing midi-chlorians from everything around you. In essence, the natural energy you are able to draw into your body is, in fact, the Living Force."

"I did it, then?" Naruto asked somewhat excitedly as he opened his eyes, the facial signs of his elevated trance vanishing as he released his hold on the technique.

"Yes, you did," Che said with a smile, "Well done, but don't let it go to your head. A youngling can do that as well."

"Way to kill the vibe," Naruto murmured in a deadpan.

She ignored his remark as she began entering notes into her data-pad, no longer looking at Naruto or Obi-Wan as she worked, "This is fascinating, very fascinating, and something that needs to be looked into further and with more detail. There are other more pressing matters to tend to at the moment, but when I get some free time I will definitely be looking further into this."

"I take it that's our cue to leave?" Naruto asked Obi-Wan, who did a very un-Jedi like shrug.

"Pretty much; Master Che can be rather abrupt," he replied before offering the healer a brief bow, "Thank you for your time, Master Che."

"Mm-hmm," she responded as she picked up her data-pad and began typing in commands, processing all of the new information in her head as she catalogued what they had just seen, "You are a very interesting young man, Naruto Uzumaki, and your abilities are quite unique. I will need to investigate into this further, but not now."

The Jedi and Shinobi bowed their heads, which the healer responded to in kind, before turning to leave the tent. Once outside in the open air, Naruto stretched and took a deep breath, releasing it with a contented sigh, "Good to be out of there."

Obi-Wan raised a brow in his direction, "She can be a little whimsical and abrupt, but I didn't think Master Che made you that uncomfortable."

"Oh no, it's not her; she's nice enough," Naruto replied, clasping his hands behind his head as he walked, "It's just that me and hospitals don't mix, is all."

"I see," Obi-Wan allowed.

There was a companionable silence between them for a long moment before Naruto intervened, looking around at the activity which was going on all morning, "I'm guessing the Conclave is just about over, huh?"

"More or less," Obi-Wan nodded, looking around in time to see that the tents and equipment were already starting to be taken down and stored away, "It's time we scatter for a while. We've been here for too long and in too great a number to continue unnoticed. The Wookiees have been more than generous in keeping this meeting a secret, but we will not allow them to take the Empire's wrath again. Not for us."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The Wookiees had suffered greatly since they let their disagreement with the Empire be known, harbouring Jedi fugitives and being targeted by both the Imperial Army and Navy as a result. From what he had read, the insurrection had wrought a heavy price to the proud people: tens of thousands died in the carnage and ten times that many were enslaved by the Empire's legalised slave traders in the aftermath.

"A delegation is setting up a meeting with the ARC Troopers to discuss our proposed alliance…" Obi-Wan informed, "…and the council has agreed with your assertion that the Jedi should split into small groups of three or four rather than going it alone. There may not be safety in large numbers, but there is safety in a small group."

"Good to hear…" Naruto nodded, as he raised a dubious eyebrow to the Jedi Master, "…but you're still going to go it alone aren't you?"

Obi-Wan chuckled, "I find it quite worrisome that you know me so well already."

"Why go it alone?"

"Best that's kept secret," Obi-Wan responded, "With time I'll tell you, but just know for now that it is something important."

"The silent guardian," Naruto murmured before looking up to the sky, mostly hidden by the canopy, "Don't become a hermit. You're too young for it."

Obi-Wan chuckled again, "I'll be sure to venture from my cave every once in a while. What are you going to do?"

Naruto wasn't caught off guard by the question, "Travel for now, do what good we can and try and help the Jedi along the way. It's too early to make any moves, so keep moving and don't draw attention."

Obi-Wan sighed, "The new way of the Jedi."

"Only for now," Naruto replied, placing a hand on his new friend's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "Your time to rise again will come, just like your time to walk into the sunlight and breathe free air will. For now, patience is what is needed."

Obi-Wan blinked, and then flashed him a wry smile, "You've been around us Jedi for far too long."

Naruto laughed, "No kidding. Do you have the information I requested as well?"

Obi-Wan reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a small datapad, "It took some doing, but I was able to find what you were looking for. It seems a little too hot, considering what you said a few moments ago."

"Eh, I only said that the _Jedi_should lay low. Me and mine are technically no longer Jedi and the men Rex is recruiting are still considered rogue Clone Troopers."

"True. If you can pull this off, it'll bring a good amount of manpower into the fray, and a lot of them would be more than happy to work with us, but from what my source says, a good amount of these prisoners are Confederate troops and officers, and then there's the fact that one of the last still-active Confederate armadas is going to hit this planet with everything they've got-"

"Right into an Imperial ambush," Naruto finished as he scanned the screen. "At least three Superiority fleets will be lying in wait for them. Why is there even a Confederate armada coming to this planet? Seems a little extreme for a handful of officers, doesn't it?"

"Not just a couple of officers. They're also coming for a battalion's worth of flesh and blood soldiers and the real bait," Obi-Wan took the data-pad from Naruto, pushed a few buttons then gave it back. On the screen were two profiles side by side: pictures of a Neimoidion and a Muun, "This is Director Ruk Sull, acting head of Confederate Intelligence, and this is Admiral Nath Swell, one of the last decent Sep military strategists that hasn't been killed or imprisoned…yet."

"So that's why they're coming here," Naruto frowned before looking up at the Jedi Master, "They've got to know it's a trap."

"The Commander of that fleet knows it's a trap, but he's willing to spring it for these men. That's how desperate they are," The Negotiator explained as Naruto handed him the datapad, "Sull still has considerable espionage and spying networks under his command, and most of the fleet coming was under Swell's command. They're loyal to him, to a fault."

* * *

Jabba the Hutt never really embraced the title of gangster; he felt such a title greatly diminished his personal stature and reputation. The Hutt considered himself to be more of…an entrepreneur who was very good at his business. He was the undisputed master of his domain, his holdings making him one of the most powerful underworld crime lords in the galaxy.

However, no matter how powerful he might be, he knew he was no match against the pale blue-hued holographic image flickering right in the middle of the dark chamber of his palace. The man before him controlled everything **outside** of his domain, and to be honest, if he wanted too, he could control everything, period.

"I am in need of your vast network of elite bounty hunters, mercenaries, information brokers and spies who operate from the Outer Rim," the Emperor spoke the words with authority, his black hood enshrouding his withered, decrepit features from the crime lord, "I am searching for a single man, all information you require will be sent to you. We believe he is currently in hiding in the Outer Rim Territories. You may use any means at your disposal, but I want him alive."

In the entirety of the galaxy, only one man could summon and deliver a direct order to Jabba Desilijic Tiure, leader of the Clan of Desirabilia, the most notorious and powerful Hutt clan in the galaxy.

The large Hutt grumbled, reaching over to grab a Bortha-slug to eat as he considered his options, however few they were. This man/Emperor/Sith Lord, or whatever he called himself now, had the power to wipe him and his entire cartel off the face of the galaxy. His protocol droid, standing to the side of his throne, translated for him as he spoke, "Why should I risk my operatives when you have the entirety of the Imperial military at your disposal?"

The head of the holographic image rose slightly, showing eyes which glowed through even the hazy image answering in a dark, threatening tone, "Because I told you to."

Jabba mulled these words over in his mind, his eyes lazily moving to his right. His gaze rested upon the form of Bib Fortuna, his Twi'lek chief aide, and two bounty hunters whom he considered the most elite in his employ, including the former Jedi turned assassin Aurra Sing. Turning his gaze to his left, he gazed upon another half dozen of his most prized mercenaries, including a young Mandalorian who showed plenty of promise, Boba Fett.

"This man," the Hutt spoke up after a moment of silence. "Who is he... and might I ask why you want him so badly?"

"No," was the Emperor's reply. It was cold, dark and utterly final. Jabba the Hutt was a master of strategy and negotiation. He knew how to play all of the angles, read his opponents and gain the best possible business outcome. The Hutt clans had operated for millennia, surviving through each Sith and Jedi war since their ancestors emerged from their ancient and lost home worlds thousands upon thousands of years ago. He was sure that his people would survive this resurgent Sith regime as well, but only if they didn't become enemies of the Empire and of this man.

"I will place a high level bounty on his head at once," he told the Emperor with great respect, however begrudging it was.

"Good, good," the Emperor nodded, raising his head enough for the shadows to recede and show his withered, scarred features to the Hutt. "Make this your main priority, Jabba. I want this man found without delay. It would be a shame if an Armada of Star Destroyers turned the surface of your home worlds into nothing but shattered glass."

"Yes," the Hutt replied grimly, "It would be a true shame."

The Emperor did not reply, for his image had already flickered and faded from the darkened audience chamber, leaving the crime lord alone with his aides and chief bounty hunters. As always the Emperor liked to remind him and those like him of his immense power, but there was more to it than that…and Jabba, ever patient, could see it.

He laughed loudly, full body quivering and tail wagging from side to side, "This man, whoever he is, has him worried – maybe even a bit frightened. He must be powerful indeed to achieve this."

"Mighty Jabba," Fortuna spoke up, leaning in to speak to his superior, "Are we truly going to hunt for this man?"

"I have no interest in giving Palpatine an excuse to raze my domains to glass. Send word to every information broker and bounty hunter worth his salt to begin searching for this human. Leave no stone unturned and no lead unchecked," Jabba ordered with a grunt, "Even if all of the Hutt clans united; they would not be a match for the might of the Imperial war machine. For now we must be patient, and wait. The Sith will dig their own graves in time, as they have always done."

The Hutt had been misleading to the Emperor, if only slightly. He knew something of the man Palpatine was searching for, mainly that he had fought Darth Vader at least twice and lived both times. This told Jabba that the man was either very skilled, very lucky, or both. Considering the rumours going around within the underworld, and the Emperor's apparent worry, Jabba found himself inclined to believe that this Naruto Uzumaki individual was a man of near-unmatchable skill…and luck probably had very little to do with his survival. He would have to operate very carefully in order to track the man down.

After a few moments of pondering the situation, he turned his head to his youngest agent, "You have faced him yourself, young Fett."

"Yes," was the young Mandalorian's reply.

"What did you make of him?"

"He is skilled - very skilled, and quite powerful," Fett answered after a moment's thought, "He had received training in a warrior culture since his youth, and his skills and reflexes have been honed by years of experience and training. He is the first opponent I fought against whom I knew I couldn't defeat…and I've taken down a few Jedi, myself."

The Hutt laughed heartily, "Now that is interesting. I find myself fascinated by this human. All of you will take to the hunt. Use your contacts and skills to find this man and bring him to me, alive and not permanently damaged."

Aurra Sing's eyes glowed, "My usual fee, I presume?"

"Triple your usual fee, my dear…and that goes for the rest of you as well if you can bring him in alive, no disintegration."

"What about any companions?" Boosk, another of his elite agents enquired, "I doubt he travels alone."

"He doesn't," Fett replied, eyeing the Trandoshan critically for a long moment, "He was travelling with a Twi'lek Jedi the last time I crossed paths with him. The two of them seemed to be…rather close."

"A Jedi…hmm, that will make things a little more difficult," Dannik Jerriko, an Anzati assassin added wryly, "Especially one who has survived Order Sixty-Six for so long. Only the most powerful and tenacious of the Jedi Order were able to survive the purge, after all."

"Jedi are indeed tenacious, but rest assured Jerriko, that they are not invincible," Jabba informed as he relaxed into his throne, reaching over to grab another squirming bortha-slug and placing it into his mouth with a satisfying crunch, "Jedi can be smart, tactical, and as scheming as the best of them, but they are also predictable once one has dealt with them for long enough. I would rather deal with Jedi than Sith; at least Jedi attempt negotiation with reason and intellect rather than mindless violence and intimidation."

"I will never trust Jedi," Boba stated simply. His confrontation with Naruto so many months ago had quelled his hatred for them, but he would still never trust them, and if enough credits were placed on the table he would join the hunt for one, such as now. It was just business, after all.

"Because one of them killed your father, you now wish to eradicate all of them?" Jabba asked with a bout of deep laughter, "A true cycle of cause and effect, hatred breeding violence. Listen to me boy, and listen well. In my long life, I have learned to remove rage, pride, and ego from my business dealing, as they do nothing but get in the way of profits. Remember this, always, young Fett: Business is never personal."

* * *

Aayla Secura was never one for nostalgia. When she was still a Padawan, Master Tholme would chide her for worrying too much about the past, and about fretting over things one could not change. The wizened old master had always tried to teach the former Jedi to look to the present, and leave the past behind her like it was meant to be. One cannot change the past; one could only learn from it.

Still, looking out the view-screen of her former master's solar barge, taking in the form of the rogue Star Destroyer, still painted bone white with traces of gold and royal red, reminded her of a time when the Republic was still there. In those days, the thought of a galactic empire seemed almost ludicrous! Nobody would have believed that such a thing would come to be…and yet here she was with her former brethren – fighting and dying for an institution they believed in with all their hearts and souls.

It was a reminder of more stable, more certain times.

It was a reminder of just how beaten they actually were, even before Order Sixty-Six was enacted, and probably even before the Clone Wars officially began.

The _Refuge _stood out in the starry darkness of space, a spear-shaped silhouette in the backdrop of countless twinkling lights, a fortress against the void of darkness and nothingness which would kill any naturally born creature, and from now on it would be their fortress, their place of safety. As the small flotilla of freighters, fighters and gunships exited hyperspace at the meeting point, Aayla supped that such was probably the opinion of each and every Jedi who looked upon this Star Destroyer.

"You seem deep in thought, Aayla."

Her former teacher's words caught her ever so slightly by surprise and she looked over to see Tholme looking back from the pilot's chair, a knowing smile on his features, "How many times do I need to tell you? One cannot change the past; one can only learn from it."

Aayla shook her head slightly, "I apologise, Master Tholme."

The wizened old man chuckled, "I haven't been your master for some time, Aayla."

Ahead of them was the form of Master Yoda's small vessel, a _Delta 7 Aethersprite_ he had commandeered before coming to Kashyyyk. It led the small pack of ragtag vessels towards the huge form of the Star Destroyer, and the confirmation to land blared through the flotilla's comlinks on the secure frequency they had all been given, as well as their place of berth on the main hangar deck and the order in which they would enter.

Yoda's little fighter was the first to break through the deflector shields protecting the main hangar from vacuum, followed by those Jedi who had escaped with fighter-sized craft. Some were Delta 7's like the Grand Master, while others were newer Eta-2 Interceptors, while still others piloted ARC-170'S, V-19 Torrents, and even a couple of newer V-wings.

Once the all-clear was discretely given, the next wave of vessels entered the main hangar, mainly small freighters and gunships like the one Aayla was currently on. The third wave, which consisted of two one-hundred-and-fifteen-meter-long _Consular-class_Cruisers, would not be entering the hangar, as there simply was not enough room, but instead would dock on the exterior docking bays of the carrier, unloading their passengers of younglings and their caretakers.

The second their ship entered the hangar, Aayla was reminded of just how thorough and precise Clone commanders could be. Starships were being landed in position in the centre of the hangar, guided by select clone troopers armed with nothing more than lamps as they guided the individual ships to their designated places of berth. Within moments of entering the landing bay, their small freighter was gently guided to its place and touched down with the minimum of trouble.

Tholme deactivated the engines as Aayla undid her crash webbing and got to her feet, turning around to see T'ra Saa and Ahsoka doing the same. The small group of four moved through the corridor between the cockpit and the main body of the ship, meeting with the handful of passengers they had ferried here, mainly a small group of younglings and their chaperone, before moving together to the ramp way.

The scene outside was a scene of crowded chaos. Jedi of all ranks, ages and races were milling about as they disembarked from their ships. The younglings and Padawans under a certain age were being protected by a ring of Jedi Knights, whose eyes darting left and right warily in search for even the slightest potential threat or hint of betrayal. About a dozen clones were standing to the side, lacking their main rifles but armed with combat knives and hold-out blasters, all holstered to their utility belts. Aayla could feel the same rigid attention from them that she did in her fellow Jedi: an overall atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust in which the tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

It was not the most promising start she had ever seen.

She noticed Yoda walking away from the main group, leaning heavily on his gimmer stick as he was flanked by Masters Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the now official second and third in command of the reshuffled Jedi High Council. Walking out to meet them was an older clone whose black hair was streaked with silver. He was dressed in old, chipped ARC armour and was equipped with a modified blaster pistol at his thigh. It didn't take the former Jedi long to figure out that this one was Alpha, the impromptu commander of this ragtag band of rogue turncoat clones.

Words were exchanged between the three Jedi and the elder ARC Trooper, before he led the three highest ranking survivors away from the main group, no doubt to a small meeting chamber so they could hash out the particulars of this new partnership. Aayla supposed she should have been worried, but she wasn't. Obi-Wan and Alpha were old war buddies who had known each other since just after the Clone Wars started. Shaak Ti also knew the elder trooper, though apparently nowhere near as well.

"Let's hope this isn't a trap," Aayla heard the caretaker of the younglings utter under her breathe.

"It's not," she replied, looking over at the small cluster of clones milling about at the other end of the hanger, "If it was, they could have hit us at Kashyyyk with the element of surprise on their side, and we wouldn't have been able to do a thing."

She was right; with these weapons and the know-how of the ARC Troopers and Commandos, they could have jumped into high orbit at Kashyyyk, found the enclave and performed an orbital bombardment which would have blasted their entire camp into craters of dust and nothing else, disappearing again before the Imperial taskforce could move to stop them, that was just how frighteningly precise and efficient clones of that profession were.

If clones of this strength and skill were on their side, then it was all the better for them. Clone Commandos and their predecessor ARC Troopers were considered to be some of the most well-trained and deadliest soldiers in the known galaxy. Their skills were regarded with reverence, awe and fear throughout what was now Imperial space, as well as throughout the Outer Rim.

The descendants of the infamous Mandalorian warriors, known as perhaps the only order who could fight the likes of the Jedi and the Sith on equal footing, not from the powers of the force but from their martial prowess, knowledge of weapons and their survival instincts to fight until death took them.

It would be a great asset to have such warriors on their side.

Aayla only hoped the meeting went as planned.

* * *

"Naruto?"

"Yes, Rex."

"I have a problem with this plan."

"The plan is perfect," Naruto said simply.

"Except for a few… glaring details. Would you like to know these details?"

"Eh, we have a few minutes."

"Your plan…and believe me I use the word plan very, _very_loosely…" Rex began, looking over at the pilot from the co-pilots chair, "…your plan is to go into a warzone with no support other than this little freighter, pass by a full blown space battle between the Empire and one of the last and strongest remnants of the old Confederate navy, land on a planet which is nearly completely under Imperial control and rescue a number of slaves?"

"Your point is?" Naruto asked.

"This is not a plan."

"No?"

"It's suicide."

"That is your opinion."

"My professional opinion…and I would just like to once again state my strong feelings against this…mission."

"Once again Rex, my friend, your objections have been noted and filed."

Rex responded with a deadpan, "I would like to see a copy of my noted objection, please."

Naruto simply responded dismissively, though not without a glint of amusement in his eye, "Yeah, I'll get right on that."

"Even if your insane plan does work, and I emphasize the word _insane_, how will you convince Confederate prisoners to abandon their home planets and join with their former enemies?" Rex responded with annoyance. It seemed that the very idea was giving Rex a huge headache, because he was massaging his brow as he fell into his chair, "Let's face it: the Jedi and the Separatists aren't exactly buddies at the moment; they've been killing each other quite indiscriminately for three whole years."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, closed it, took on a thoughtful expression, and then raised his hand to scratch the back of his head with a sheepish grin, "I'm still working on that part."

Rex blinked, twice, "You're about to undertake in an important military operation, and you haven't even planned out the most important goal?"

"I'm going to wing it," Naruto shrugged, noticing Rex's eyes widen in pure disbelief and just a hint of horror.

"You're going to…Naruto, man, you can't go into an important military and diplomatic mission with that type of mindset," Rex felt like he was about to collapse from the sheer amount of unwelcome information he was receiving, "You are undertaking a mission which could mean the survival or near annihilation of us as an entity and you're going to just…_wing it_?"

"Why not? It's worked well for me so far."

"That doesn't work for a combat mission, Naruto!" Rex nearly shouted.

"Arrival in ten seconds," Naruto chirped, reaching for the communicator and pushing the broadcast button to the rest of their group in the back. "Everyone strap in. We're about to enter the contested zone."

"We're going to die," Rex murmured in pure numb shock, "We're all, seriously, going to die."

"The comm's still on, Rex," Naruto rebuked with a frown.

"I know. I just wanted to get that into the open."

"Oh, would you stop with the defeatist attitude?" Naruto grumbled as he grabbed the hyperdrive lever and pulled it back, bringing the _Will of Fire_back into real-space with a slight shudder, "We are not going to WHOOAAH WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Rex's own eyes starred at the scene with the same sudden fear in them, even as the blond-haired Captain pulled back hard on the control yoke to bring the freighter into a steep climb. Ahead of them and closing fast was a Confederate Cruiser, _Providence-class_, its armoured hull peppered with explosions as it slowly broke apart under a withering volley of weapons fire from an as-yet unidentified source. The scene completely overtook the view-screen and even Rex knew that they were perilously close.

Then the scene of destruction gave way to the starry darkness as the _Will of Fire _missed the dying warship by almost three meters. What welcomed them was a scene of carnage and destruction Rex had come to know as close quarter's space combat. Separatist capital ships and escorts were mingled with the blade shaped forms of Star Destroyers and their own pickets, blasting away at each other with salvos of weapons fire. Blue, green and crimson streaks lit up the deep abyss of space as hordes of starfighters and drones swarmed through each other, small explosions riddling the starscape from exploding ordinance and detonating fighters.

Once clear of the dying ship, Naruto once again pressed the key on the ships internal comlink, eyes wide and voice coming out as a surprised fast jumble of words, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't strapped yourselves in yet, please do so right now. We are about to experience mild turbulence and…explode."

"I don't want to explode," Rex said simply.

"Neither do I," Naruto replied, taking his hands off the control yoke just long enough to crack his knuckles before grabbing the yoke once again, "Time for some extreme evasive manoeuvres, if you don't mind."

"Please do."

Naruto's first move was to bring the freighter into a sudden barrel roll, missing a small salvo of blaster fire as a duo of ARC-170's fell in behind them, laser cannons on the tips of their wings unleashing a continuous, merciless barrage upon the disc shaped form of their vessel. Naruto weaved right, and then another barrel roll, bringing them over another discharge of crimson laserfire as the two Imperial fighters doggedly gave chase.

"I need a few volunteers to man the gun turrets!"

"Well you have no shortage of that," Rex grinned as he tightened his own crash webbing, "There are a dozen Commandos back there climbing up the walls of your ready room, might be better to choose a few instead."

"Good point," Naruto grinned as he brought the freighter into a sudden spinning turn, narrowly missing yet another salvo, "Another two have caught on to us and are giving chase. We need to shake them off. Rex, use the comm. You know most of them back there. Choose two good gunners for me, would you?"

"With pleasure," Rex replied before hitting the receiver switcher on the internal comm., "We need people on the guns! Flask, Rep, that means you two! Shoot down anything that even gets close to us!"

"Shit," Naruto swore quietly under his breath and he brought the freighter into a steep dive, "Now we have another three coming in, looks like V-wings."

"So we do," Rex agreed as he himself surveyed the sensors, eyes narrowing, "Another six fighters are coming in from ahead, and a frigate sized vessel as well. It's confirmed as a _Munificent-class."_

"Separatist, right?"

"Yeah."

"Full speed ahead," Naruto called as he brought the throttle forward to its maximum speed, a sudden lurch pushed both pilot and co-pilot into their bucket seats, "This has to be timed right. If we can pass them, then they'll clash with the Imperials behind us."

"If that Frigate's cannons don't destroy us first," Rex growled, already hearing the telltale sounds of blaster turret fire from behind him, and confirming that his two chosen gunners had made it to their stations and were even now laying down covering fire against the enemy craft behind them. Alarm claxons blared, bringing a new threat to the former Republic Commanders notice, "We got incoming."

It came from below, a _Venator-class _Star Destroyer seemed to pierce their view screen, followed mere moments later by a _Providence-class _Cruiser, both capital ships were side by side, moving in the same direction and pounding each other with point blank heavy turbolaser fire. The Star Destroyer was winning the engagement, yet taking considerable damage itself.

Naruto grinned and gunned the engines. The _Will of Fire _plunged headlong towards the incoming duelling cruisers, the near squadron's worth of Imperial fighters and bombers following them like a pack of rabid dogs, streams of weapons fire flashed from the ventral and dorsal gun turrets, stopping their pursuers from getting a direct lock on them.

One of the red blips blinked out, followed by a whoop of delight from the internal comm, _"Oh yeah got one!"_

"_Shit now I have to get one too!"_

"It seems that Flask got himself a kill."

Naruto didn't respond to Rex's remark. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for a handful of heartbeats as the imposing form of the duelling cruisers came closer and closer with almost explosive speed. He licked his lips then pulled hard on the control yoke, bringing the freighter into a steep climb and levelling it off against the ventral hull of the _Providence _Cruiser, path right across the kill zone to the ventral axis of the Star Destroyer, "This is going to be rough. Rex, divert all non-essential power to the shields!"

"Already done," the former commander replied, hands dancing across the control panel on his side of the console. The lights of the cockpit flickered for a few seconds before shutting down entirely, "It's done, even with that much power the shields will only be able to take two direct hits from a main Turbolaser battery."

"Well, if there was ever a time to put your faith into my fluky-ass piloting skills, I'd guess it would be right now," Naruto grinned sombrely as he once again gunned the engines, bringing his freighter back to its full speed, the six Imperial craft directly behind them and closing fast, "Hang on to your lunch!"

"Good thing I never had lunch," Rex ground out, feeling bile rise up in his throat as he realised that this ship was never supposed to go so fast, not in its original design specs anyway, "Looks like at least some of our pursuers have some sense. Two of them are banking away."

"That leaves four," Naruto growled, looking down at the sensor displays to see another red blip blink out, "Scratch that, now there's only three."

The comm. crackled, followed by a victory howl, _"Now we're even!"_

"_Shut your hole!"_

Naruto exploded in a bout of laughter, "I like these guys."

Rex however, shook his head in bemusement, "Gifted gunners, racked up more kills than anyone in the 103rd Division, but they received more complaints and near court martial's than anyone else in that Division as well."

"Now, I _really _like these guys!" Naruto grinned in reply.

"I knew you would," Rex responded with a wry smile, "That's why I asked them to volunteer."

By now, lances of crimson and green energy nearly blinded their vision. They had passed by the Separatist Cruiser and dove headlong into the firing line, no-man's land, death land, whatever it was called didn't matter. This was the space between two duelling capital ships, a place where you either had to be suicidal or crazy to survive. Rex knew that Naruto wasn't suicidal, not with someone like Aayla waiting for him, so that left crazy.

The _Will of Fire _ducked and weaved, shields blazing from a dozen near-misses and ricochets as she passed by the main salvo of both capital ships. Rex watched as Naruto brought the ship into a series of flawless manoeuvres, ducking, weaving and rising above the blasts of Turbolaser fire as the small ship crossed the land between within a few moments. The pursuing fighters were not so lucky, all three destroyed within moments of them entering the killing field.

The _Will of Fire _passed by the armoured hull of the Star Destroyer, too low for the main weapon batteries not currently engaged to get a bead on them. They passed by, engines still gunned to maximum speed to get out of the cruiser's range as quickly as possible. Naruto grit his teeth, rocketing his small vessel past the capital ships' forms and into open space once again.

The planet's form could now be seen in the distance, a small orb separated by a sea of battle between the two rival armadas; a horde of capital ships, escorts and fighters exchanging fire, flying the colours of both the new Galactic Empire and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. It was a grim reminder that while the Clone Wars were officially over, the truth was another matter.

"The two fighters from before are back," Rex informed his boss with a sombre expression, "And they've brought friends."

Naruto allowed himself a glance to the sensors to see that not only had the two craft returned but they had brought another eight ARC-170 starfighters into the fray, "That is bad, isn't it?"

"It is," Rex agreed, "This means that we will have no choice but to run the gauntlet with that Frigate and her pickets. If nothing else, it'll take most of those Imperial bastards off our tail to deal with them."

Naruto looked at the small speck which signified the Frigate, closing in, and with a sudden grin he once again gunned his engines, bringing his freighter straight towards the incoming flotilla with all due haste, "Alright then, let's gun it!"

It barely took a few moments for Naruto to see the half dozen fighters coming towards him as Droid Tri-Fighters, elite fighters of the Confederacy and more than capable to facing the Imperials hunting them down. Naruto waited until their guns began blazing before pulling the trigger, releasing several missiles of chaff from the _Will of Fire's _aft. The missiles exploded just as the Tri-Fighters came within range, their mission completed as they scrambled the drones' systems, no longer seeing the freighter and instead homing in on the pursuing Imperial fighters as the primary targets. The Tri-Fighters blurred past, engaging the enemy instead of them.

The _Will of Fire _continued on, firing another trio of chaff missiles as she flew past the Star Frigate, once again blurring its systems and recognising the incoming Imperial fighters as the primary threat. Her main weapon batteries opened up, not on the freighter but on those few fighters which passed through the picket vessel's meagre fighter screen. Naruto brought his ship into a barrel roll up and over the Frigate, passing right by the escort and leaving her to deal with the small swarm of Imperial fighters.

"Those are some impressive chaff weapons you've brought," Rex remarked.

Naruto grinned, "Something the Jedi's R&D Division were planning on unleashing in the next major campaign. Their purpose was to break down the targeting of Separatist skirmish systems. When Sidious betrayed them the Jedi behind the techniques destroyed all evidence of the ability and sent the only copy to Master Yoda, who then passed it on to me to test it."

"It seems to have worked, then?" Rex asked.

Naruto's grin widened slightly, "Most definitely."

Rex managed a wry grin, but a sudden alarm claxon stopped any further thought, and with a frown, the former commander began strengthening the ships sensory systems. There was something happening on the surrounding upper atmosphere of the planet. It took just a little bit of tuning and increasing the range to realise what was happening.

"The Empire is winning," the former Commander growled with gritted teeth.

Naruto looked in his direction, confused, yet his own searching of the planet and its orbit showed him exactly what the sensors were showing Rex. Surrounding the planet were the unmistakable forms of at least eight Star Destroyers of the new and improved _Imperial-class_, currently duelling and winning with what looked like the vanguard of the Confederate armada, four _Lucrehulk-class _Battleships.

"They're too preoccupied with each other," Rex surmised as he watched the two sides pummel each other with volley after volley of weapons fire, "I think we might be able to sneak our way through."

"I agree," Naruto replied as he turned the control yoke, bringing the ship away from the fighting and towards the edge of the planet, "We'll break orbit on the night side and fly low to our target. Plot a trajectory towards the target area, then take over for me."

Rex looked at Naruto for a moment, before realisation dawned, "Oh right, you can't land."

Naruto gave Rex a dirty look, and gunned the throttle.

"There's another thing that's been bugging me."

"And that is?"

"How are we going to fit all of those prisoners and slaves into this little freighter?"

There was no answer, no answer at all, for the longest time there was silence.

"You really didn't think this through, did you?"

"Bite me."

* * *

In the entirety of the galaxy, from Coruscant to the very borders between the central galaxy and the Outer-rim territories there was one organisation which ruled the criminal underworld, just one. That organisation was known at least in passing to every sentient being in the Empire, an organisation which could go toe to toe with the great power of the Hutt criminal clans.

The name of this organisation was Black Sun, and he was the master.

Xizor Sizhran, a member of the great and powerful house bearing his family name, was the new leader of this vast and terrible organization. Some called him a Prince, but in truth he was a King. All of the Black Sun Criminal Syndicate was under his rule; all within obeyed his commands, from the very centre of the Core Worlds Region to the very fringes of the Outer Rim. All were within his reach - an empire which dwarfed all others.

Under his command was an army of bounty hunters, thugs, hit men and mercenaries which would match even those of the infamous and just as notorious Hutt crime lords. He commanded an unofficial army of tens of thousands, could call upon Great War Hosts of such soldiers for hire on a whim. Many world governments were afraid of him and the organisation he had brought back from potential ruin.

Many would consider him one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, and he was. But he wasn't _the_most powerful being in the galaxy. That title belonged to the blue-hued holographic figure standing in the centre of his office. His loyal bodyguard, Guri, was by his side and yet under her protection he still felt vulnerable under this man's shrewd, unyielding gaze.

"I have need of the resources and manpower of your organisation, Prince Xizor: every elite bounty hunter, mercenary, spy, information broker and smuggler under your employ from the very depths of the deep core to the edges of the Outer-rim," Palpatine said simply, his holographic form flickering in the low light of his office, "There is a man I am currently looking for, one who must be brought to me, alive, at all costs."

The Falleen crime lord sat back in his chair, outwardly calm and inwardly focused, as he studied the hooded and cloaked form of the most powerful man in the galaxy, the Emperor of the newly formed Galactic Empire, Dantius Palpatine, "Tell me, why should I risk the lives of my most valuable agents to find this man when you have a near limitless army and navy at your disposal?"

"Jabba once asked the same question," Palpatine replied with a harsh, cold voice, a far cry from the grandfatherly figure which governed the Republic during its waning years, "And his answer is the same as yours, because I command it."

So he has also threatened even the likes of Jabba into this little hunt, but Xizor wasn't nearly as timid as that overgrown slug, "Black Sun has survived for almost millennia. We survived the Jedi, we survived the Republic. I do not think surviving you will be much of a stretch from what we have always done."

"You are currently on Sullust, in the underground of a private villa precisely fifteen kilometres away from the southern edges of the capital. I can have a Star Destroyer there within two minutes to turn that villa and all around it for ten kilometres into dust and rubble," Palpatine smiled a sickly smile upon seeing the Dark Princes widened eyes, "All it would take was my command and you would be dead. Black Sun is not as invincible as you believe it to be, dear Prince. I know almost all of your holdings' and fortresses' locations so do not test me any further, or you will turn out the same as your predecessor."

The crowned Prince of crime growled low in his throat before finally backing down and nodding his head, "You crossed the Jedi. You're even willing to threaten the likes of Jabba. Why should I expect any better?"

"Because you know of my power, and you know that appeasing me is your best chance of both you and your organisation's survival," the Emperor replied in a cold voice which sent chills up the Falleen royal's spine.

The crime lord grit his teeth so hard the cracking sound could be heard, before he bowed his head and uttered yet another guttural growl, "Very well. The resources of Black Sun are at your disposal, Emperor Palpatine."

"Very good," Sidious responded, "You have made a wise choice today, young leader of Black Sun."

His image flickered and faded, leaving the Falleen alone in his chamber with no one else but his personal bodyguard and proxy leader, "Guri, summon my Vigos and assemble every agent and mercenary which can be summoned."

The beautiful creature behind him nodded her head in agreement, whispering an affirmative before moving towards the exit; ready to begin with her task. The young Prince now saw what drove the likes of powerful beings like Jabba to bend over backwards for this man, his very presence was stifling and his threats were very real and very deadly. Xizor came out of this conversation with one important lesson: The likes of Palpatine were not to be underestimated.

"You heard, I take it?"

A low chuckle, nasally and slightly mechanical, was his answer, "Of course I did, it never ceases to amuse me how much of a grand manipulator that man is."

"You also know of his demands a well?"

"I do."

"Then there was a reason why I summoned you here in the first place," Xizor stated simply as he rose to his feet, "You are perhaps one of the most skilled and deadliest bounty hunters in the known galaxy. You have even fought Jedi Masters on equal footing during the Clone Wars and either won or escaped."

The figure he was addressing was an intimidating individual, dressed in a leather long-coat, light armour underneath, head shrouded slightly by a wide brimmed hat, red eyes peered out and tubes were connected to his cheeks. Armed with two pistols, one holstered while the other was twirling in the long fingers of his right hand. The Duros bounty hunter Cade Ban, one of the deadliest men in the known galaxy today, and he was under Xisor's command.

"You know why I have summoned you?"

"I do," the strongest bounty hunter of his era replied, twirling his pistol in his right hand for a few more moments before expertly placing it into the empty holster on his left hip, "And my offer remains the same."

"You'll get double, no, triple your fee so long as you bring the target before me, in chains, alive," Xisor growled from his seat as he collapsed into it, "What you do along the way is your concern, so long as he is still breathing when presented to the Emperor."

The legendary Duros bounty hunter raised his wide brimmed hat, red eyes looking right at the young crime lord with a lack of emotion other than slight amusement, "Very well, meet my price and I will do the job."

"You have a deal."

* * *

"Land in that valley, you said. Plenty of cover, you said."

"Do you really think I could have seen this coming?" Naruto asked with a frown as he matched Rex's glare with equal intensity, "Despite my power I am not a Jedi, precognition isn't really part of my skill set."

"You usually don't need a skill set to know common sense, especially in this situation," Rex replied, dual blaster pistols in his hands as he trained his sights on one of the many enemies which surrounded their small strike team.

"When could I have learned this common sense you speak so highly off?"

"By checking the heat sensors on the ship when we landed, maybe?" Rex asked with a groan.

His unit of twelve ARC Troopers, one Jedi and one Shinobi were in a circle, a small ring of blaster rifles held against a surrounding force of Separatist soldiers dressed in combat fatigues and armed with regular weaponry, the clicks of nearly eighty blasters could be heard at once as the Neimoidian militia brought their firepower to the fore.

"I don't suppose you have a plan?" Rex asked.

"Working on it," Naruto replied, head leaning slightly to the side to stop himself from getting burned by Celeste's azure bladed lightsaber, "Can you please point that towards someone else?"

"If I point it anywhere else, I'd be impaling someone," the former Jedi Shadow replied with a frown as she took a short step away from Naruto, "Why the hell are there Neimoidian Home Legionnaires here? This is half way across the _bloody_galaxy from the Purse Worlds!"

"The Neimoidians were one of the main races making up the Separatists, Lady Morne," Rex replied simply, eyes not leaving those of the small combat company surrounding them, "I'm guessing the fleet originally got into position to launch a small invasion force before the Empire snared their trap. That's most likely why they're here."

"Great. Surrounded by desperate soldiers in the middle of territory hostile to both of us," Naruto frowned as he pulled back the trigger on his blasters, preparing to fire at a moment's notice.

The sea of blasters parted slightly to show a single figure approaching, a Neimoidian wearing the same light armour, minus the headgear, armed with a blaster pistol which was holstered to his hip. The man was obviously an officer of this group, probably their commanding officer. He certainly held himself with an air of authority.

"Drop your weapons!" the officer yelled at them.

"You first," Naruto replied.

"You're outnumbered and outgunned!"

"We're both in the middle of hostile territory, and I do not think you're in much of a mood in taking war prisoners," Rex countered, turning slightly to face the commander. "Our choices are either fight or die, and I chose to fight."

"Typical _Clone_," the Commander sneered. "Though I suppose that's all you know isn't it, how to fight!?"

"There is a third option," Celeste replied; "Joining forces."

This brought a scoff from the commander, "Why would we join you, Jedi!?"

"Because we are both undermanned units in the middle of hostile territory," Naruto answered in place of his friend, "Our choices are either to kill each other, and believe me you'll lose a third of your forces and a lot of your ammunition blowing us away, or joining forces, in which case we both have a better chance of reaching our objectives. I'm guessing they're in roughly the same place aren't they?"

"What _are_your objectives?" The commander asked. Naruto absently breathed a little easier. At least he was willing to talk.

"You want your commanders and we want to hold an audience with them," Rex replied in place of Naruto. The three of them seemed to really be in sync today, despite the bickering.

The commander blinked at the statements from the three higher-ranking members of the little band they had encountered, "Why do you want to meet with them?"

"To form an alliance," was Celeste's reply.

This drew a loud bark of laughter from the officer, and his men's fingers unconsciously tightened around their blasters. This was followed by the clones zoning in on the best targets in response, "You wish to meet with perhaps the two surviving highest ranking military figures in the Confederacy, why should we allow a bunch of clones and Jedi near them?"

"Because the Confederacy is on life support," Naruto replied in a voice which brokered no argument, lowering his pistols and walking out of the defensive formation, the clones around him watching him warily as he went, "Let's face it: the majority of your droid armies have been destroyed or deactivated, the mightiest of your fleets are floating derelict in space, salvage for every opportunist in the galaxy, whatever ships you can get back online are mostly crewed by either organics or by droids not directly controlled by your hub on Mustafar, you lost the majority of your forces in a day, and your numbers were halved yet again by remnants being crushed or surrendering. You're on your last legs, just like us."

"Just like you?"

"We're on our last legs, too," Naruto said with a mirthless smile, "The Jedi were hit hard, only a few hundred blades remain out of tens of thousands when Palpatine and the Republic turned on them. The clones that refused to take part in the massacre were butchered or forced to flee like these guys. This unit you see is made up of survivors and rogues with no respect for or loyalty to the Empire. We're the enemy of your enemy and as the ancient saying goes-"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the Neimoidian murmured with a disgusted grunt.

"Precisely."

He seemed to think for a moment, and then with a growl of agitation he turned on his heel and raised his hand. There was a moment of tense expectation before the commander spoke, "Stand down, perhaps we can come to an agreement after all."

Slowly, warily, the eighty odd blasters aimed at them were removed from the equation with a series of clicks, and with a raised fist from Rex, the dozen blasters held in response also relaxed. A long, drawn out hiss seemed to put an end to the stalemate as Celeste deactivated her lightsaber and clipped the weapon to her side. Naruto breathed a heavy sigh as he twirled his duel blaster pistols in his fingers before holstering them in a smooth motion.

"Perhaps we can," He nodded in response.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I'm late, I know, and I do apologise. It's just that I had writers block for a half dozen months, then when I finally got the chapter done and sent a week and a half ago both me and my beta-reader, who live halfway across the planet from each other, got sick and bedridden until recently. But all of that is in the past, and here is the long awaited next chapter to the tale._

_I have also added a small teaser prologue to a new Naruto/Star Wars story I've had in my head for a few weeks to a month. It's called 'The Shadow of the Sun' and it's on my home page if you want to give it a look, but for now it's only a secondary responsibility, this and my Naruto story 'The Wanderer' are my primaries at the moment. _

_Give it a read though; I'd really appreciate some feedback from you guys._


	36. A Fool's Gambit

_**Chapter 35**_

_**A Fools Gambit**_

It was an oppressive sight. Serenno's once-proud spaceport, situated at the edge of the Capital, whose berthing docks and landing pads had once provided landing space sufficient to house entire armadas of civilian transport and merchant vessels ranging from simple freighters and shuttles to hulking merchant starships and luxury cruise liners, no longer possessed the vibrant life it was renowned for not one year ago. Since being commandeered by the Imperial Military, commerce and passenger ships had been replaced by Frigates and Capital Ships, shuttles and freighters by gunships, blastboats and the Empire's new TIE Fighters. All one would feel by gazing upon the spaceport now is cold, brutal, efficient functionality and despair. It was an oppressive sight, indeed.

The Imperial War Machine had quickly established a strong presence here, converting the spaceport into the Main Command Center of the Imperial Military in this entire sector. Countless thousands of Imperial Stormtroopers could be observed marching in perfect synchronization to and fro, their white carapace-armoured forms patrolling the grounds in platoons of twenty to thirty two as the steps of every trooper hit the deck as one, at the exact same millisecond in time, giving off a sound like a drum beating that could be heard from miles off.

Engineers, technicians and other maintenance and support personnel, garbed in black jumpsuits, were swarming around docked vessels - repairing, refuelling, and rearming them so they could return to the battle taking place in orbit. Spotlights and lamps illuminated the base in the fading dark. Hidden by the night, one could hear the roars of several pairs of Imperial TIE Fighters patrolling from the air, visible only by the flashing of their running lights.

Many would be impressed at the efficiency with which the base ran. The routines and standard operating procedures of those stationed there, and of the base as a whole, could easily be discerned by observing the comings and goings of its personnel. The Empire's policy for maintaining order was to use the fear of force upon the populace before using force itself. To the vast majority, their sheer efficiency would make them appear to be ready for anything.

Naruto was not in the vast majority. Where most people saw efficiency designed to invoke fear and intimidation, he saw routines and patterns of a hulking machine that were so predictable he had to suppress both laughter and disgust. Most people wouldn't begin to attempt the mission he was about to. Naruto looked at the installation and knew exactly where to plant explosives, when to plant them, and even when to set them off so that the greatest number of casualties could be inflicted before any of them even knew what happened, or even that something **had** happened.

Using one of the power lines to the base as a zipline, he landed silently on the rooftop of one of the great hangars, garbed in black from head to toe, and looking to his right just as a soft thump from behind him heralded the arrival of his partner. Celeste was also garbed in black, looking over at him and nodding her head.

"You know what to do," Naruto whispered, pointing to her utility belt, "Plant the bombs, set the timers and then get the hell out of there. You know the patrol routes and how they operate, so you shouldn't have too much trouble, but keep an eye out for surprises. We only have one shot at this and timing will be everything."

Celeste nodded, and was gone like the wind, merging with the darkness of night just as Naruto had taught her, though her former occupation as a Shadow of the ancient Jedi might have helped her along.

Naruto watched her go before reaching up to tap his right ear, "Rex, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," came a quiet reply.

"Line secure?"

"You bet. Imps haven't changed their codes yet," the former Captain replied, "You in position?"

"Give us five more minutes," Naruto replied as he took a running leap, jumping across the thirty-meter gap between the hangar he landed on and the adjacent hangar, managing it with ease.

In mid-jump, he whispered back into his earpiece, "Celeste is preparing the surprise party as we speak, and I'm halfway to the objective. Are you sure this is where those Sep prisoners are supposed to be?"

"I'm certain. It's the only empty hangar in the spaceport," Rex's voice blazed crackly over the comlink as Naruto landed on the second hangar's roof, "there's nowhere else on the base that's big enough to house that many."

"I hope you're right," Naruto said as he moved across the roof he'd just landed on without slowing, taking another running leap and traversing the distance once more in a single jump. He looked down to see a line of dim glow lamps, a trio of Stormtroopers moving through them slow and alert, not even looking up as he flew by overhead, "What about the boarding party? Have your boys found a suitable transport?"

"Echo thinks he found the perfect ship to highjack; looks like a captured _Munificent_."

"He wants to commandeer a Frigate?" Naruto asked, bewildered for a short moment before a feral grin twisted his features. Of course, it had to be a Frigate! Anything less would be considered an insult to an ARC Commando's ego!

"Sounds about right," Naruto added with quiet satisfaction.

"It's big enough for the job and it only needs a skeleton crew to pilot," Rex explained in a slightly irritated tone, "wouldn't need to highjack one if you'd only had the hindsight to take a larger ship with you."

"Will you stop going on about that?!" Naruto nearly snapped as he landed on the fourth hangar's roof, his target hanger, "I already said I was sorry. Anyways, you should have had the _hindsight _to point out that little hiccup in the plan."

"It wasn't a hiccup, it was a full blown seizure," Rex bit back, obviously still finding that huge hole in the plan as a never-forgettable annoyance, half because he should have seen that little problem coming himself, "I now know why we need Aayla. She's the only one who can keep you under control, and make sure you're hare-brained plans actually make sense."

"I was wondering how long it would be before you figured that out," Naruto chided with a slight chuckle as he came to the spine of the hangar, searching along it until he found an entry hatch.

"I'm at the objective," Naruto informed Rex as his demeanour became detached and professional, "Beginning comm. silence. Make sure Echo has that Frigate under control when we set loose this little jail break, and make sure those Seps know their roles."

"They're filtering through now. Another fifteen to twenty minutes and they'll be in position," Rex informed, taking a breath as Naruto pictured him massaging his temple, "Beginning comm. silence, and good luck, moron," he finished with annoyed, yet good-natured sarcasm.

"Yes, dear," Naruto muttered just as sarcastically as he turned off his earpiece and leaned down into a crouch before the hatchway. He felt along the sides, quietly breaking the locks with a chakra-coated kunai before pulling it open with a low whine of old disused joints which made him flinch. Fortunately, no one's attention had been drawn to the sound, so he jumped in, closing the hatch behind him and grabbing a support beam that was a few meters above the metal walkway that was his intended destination. Letting go, he landed on the walkway in a crouch so as to muffle the sound, and began to look down and scan the hangar floor some eighty meters below him.

After a few moments, he silently traversed the walkway, moving to the side, using the shadows for cover as he peered down once more into the main bay. His eyes narrowed as he studied what was before him. Rex's intel was accurate, it seemed. The deep engineer pits had been caged over, and a horde of beings were trapped within, sentient beings of at least a dozen races. Naruto saw Wookiees, Nosaurians, Muun, Neimoidians, Devoranians, Humans, Zeltrons and a dozen other races he was unfamiliar with. Each of the twelve engineer bays had been converted to such a purpose: to house enemies of the empire, slaves, political prisoners, opposition soldiers, and the like. In the centre of the hanger was a circular platform which seemed to have been converted into a makeshift viewing gallery.

He also spotted two platoons of twenty Stormtroopers each guarding them, as well as what he would estimate was nearly five times that number in mercenaries, most likely of some Imperial-sponsored slave ring. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the sight, before once again tapping on his comlink, turning it to the secure frequency between him and his co-conspirator.

"Celeste, what's the word?" he asked in a near-whisper, his tone taking on a dark edge

"Almost finished, just three more charges to plant then we can get this party started."

"How much time do you need?"

"Twenty minutes."

"Beep me when you're done," Naruto acknowledged, turning off the comlink before looking down again to scan the hangar-bay-turned-slave-pit, trying to find a vantage point, or a circumstance, that he could use to get a closer look. He had his own objectives to meet, and he couldn't do it hiding up here. His glowing azure eyes picked out a target: a black-garbed lieutenant checking on a datapad in the shadows…that appeared to be almost the exact same height and build as Naruto.

As Naruto moved silently, he couldn't help but reminisce with a silent chuckle that most of his Chūnin lecturers back at the academy would have been either horrified or awestruck at his ability to keep hidden. He climbed and jumped from rafter to rafter before silently dropping the few hundred feet that separated him from the main bay's ground floor. He landed behind the lieutenant with not even a slither of noise. The man didn't know what hit him until a kunai raced across his throat. He was pulled further into the shadows as he gurgled, vanishing from view only to reappear, unharmed, a few moments later.

Ah, the Henge, such a simple technique, made much easier when the image of the person you transformed into was closer to your own height and weight.

Garbed in his new form, Naruto began walking crisply from the shadows, datapad in hand as he pretended to study its contents. He moved haphazardly until he reached the nearest slave pen, and ignoring the fearful to downright murderous glares he received, silently tied a small explosive tag around the transparisteel locks, casting a basic genjutsu to mask his efforts from the guarding Stormtroopers, silently thanking Kurama for his returned chakra control after they had both gotten back into sync with each other. To the Stormtroopers, he was simply inspecting the prisoners.

Naruto remained for a few moments after setting the tag, seemingly inspecting the catch. This pen housed women and children, not soldiers and doubtfully political prisoners, just people on the wrong side of a losing war. They were garbed in what could only be termed as rags; dirty, malnourished and dehydrated. They were being fed the absolute minimum - just enough to be kept alive, and the fetid odour told him that they weren't given any sanitary applications or even any means for basic waste disposal. He gritted his teeth in anger as he was reminded of Bomo and Resa, losing a wife and mother to the slave pits as well as everyone they knew. It angered him further that such pits were becoming commonplace throughout Imperial Space, showing the high cost of being a pawn of the Sith and their games.

He repeated the gesture, moving from pen to pen in the guise of an officer, secretly planting explosive tags precisely where they needed to be in order to do the most damage to the locked cage doors while doing minimal damage to those inside. Another three pens held yet more slaves: more women, old men and children.

Naruto was standing in the shadow of the central platform, looking down discretely at his chrono watch to check how long he had been moving: ten minutes. He still had another ten minutes before Celeste was expected to beep in and the fireworks were set to go off. If he continued with this kind of pace, he estimated that he should be ready to go just in time.

A growl of anger assaulted his ears from atop the platform, followed by other, more humanoid sounds, pleading and crying. The Shinobi in him told him to continue on with the mission and that he couldn't help them, at least not yet. The compassion within him told him to look, and if need be to step in and fight.

He moved the same way he had done until now, moving with the authority and pomp that he had seen Imperial officers move as he walked towards the steps linking the platform to ground level. The two Stormtroopers guarding the entrance didn't even flinch as he passed, which was good. It looked like he had taken the guise of someone with a bit of authority.

He made it up the steps and onto the platform. It was spacious with plenty of room to manoeuvre, but provided no cover or places to hide. As he continued walking, he saw a small group of men, wearing black uniforms and caps similar to what he was wearing, and a few others wearing more casual clothes. Naruto saw a few humans but also Trandoshans and Zygerrians.

The Shinobi stifled a growl; these were races stereotyped as slavers.

There were five other figures, these ones were on their knees, heads mostly bowed and chains on their ankles and wrists, dressed in torn rags barely deserving the name of clothes. It was while looking at them that Naruto found the source of the crying. It was a small Twi'lek child, maybe two years old, sobbing and snivelling, obviously terrified by what was going on. Another Twi'lek, this one a middle-aged woman, attempted to reach out a hand to her, but was kicked viciously away by one of the Trandoshans towering over them.

Beside the woman was the towering form of a Wookiee, who snarled at the slaver and attempted to move, only to be hit in the side by another Trandoshan carrying a stun staff. The proud sentient roared in pain as thousands of volts coursed across its fur-covered hide. He attempted to lash out at his attacker blindly, only for the original one to mirror the actions of the other by plunging his own stun staff into his other side, another surge of electricity, another roar of pain.

Naruto heard one of the officers, "That one's not going to be broken so easily."

The slaver standing beside him, a Zygerrian, grinned, "That's half the fun, Imperial. The longer it takes them to break, the more satisfaction there is to be had."

The officer nodded, then turned in Naruto's direction, hardened features turning into a scowl, "Alores, what the hell are you doing here? Get your ass back to your post!"

Naruto knew he was talking about him, snapping off a stiff salute he hoped was accurate before turning on his heel and making his way to the exit. He looked back, seeing the child continue to cry and her mother continuing to try and reach out to her. He made a promise that once the fireworks go off, this was where he would strike the Imperials and their unsavoury allies first. With that thought solidified into a personal promise, he left the platform and continued on with his "work".

The fifth and sixth pens housed mostly humans and near-humans: political prisoners who spoke out against the Empire, from what he could gather. The seventh through the tenth held Confederate prisoners, soldiers, engineers, technicians and medics.

The last two held Wookiees. Naruto had seen them before, on Kashyyyk during the conclave, the warriors and hunters who had guarded their borders during that important meeting of Jedi. They were huge, strong and powerful. Compared to those warriors these Wookiees looked a little worse for wear, malnourished and dehydrated. Aayla had told him that Wookiees were carnivorous, and their great size meant that they needed to eat considerably more than the usual sentient. These Wookiees looked exhausted and sick, to such a degree that many of them were wobbling on their feet and struggling to remain standing.

He placed the last tag on the cage, managing not to flinch as the nearest Wookiee emitted a feral growl. He had to further hide his surprise when he realized that this was the first female Wookiee he had ever seen, if her six protruding breasts were any indicator, as she was using one of them to nurse the unconscious infant in her long arms. Naruto ignored the feral warning, turning on his heel and passing by the two Imperial troopers guarding the gate, looking back at his wrist chrono for the time: another minute, maybe two, then all hell would break loose.

Naruto smirked as he walked back into the shadows and ducked out of sight. With a chakra-propelled leap, he flew up, landing a foot onto the flat wall and placing just enough chakra into it to allow him to stick to the surface. He began to walk, allowing his henge to melt away as he resumed his usual appearance. He made it a few confident steps before using the surface as a springboard to launch himself the additional length towards the rafters.

He walked along his chosen path, looking down at the sight below him for a long moment before checking his chrono. The timer was counting down; reaching ten seconds by the time he had a look at it. His attention was suddenly diverted as a blaster shot rang through the air.

Naruto's head darted to the left, taking in the sudden, eerie silence as he looked down at the central platform of the hanger. He couldn't see much from this height, so he pumped some chakra into his eyes to sharpen his senses. His vision magnified, and his mind took in the sight.

A Tygerrian was standing over the prone form of the Twi'lek mother, wisps of smoke rising from a burn mark on her chest. The toddler was lying on her stomach, crying, and was kicked away by the slaver. Naruto knew the plan, but everything in his brain was rewired by the carnage before him.

He broke out into a run and jumped off the edge, diving down just as the explosives Celeste and their ARC Troopers planted across the space port went off with a series of dull booms. Naruto didn't hear them, and didn't care as he saw the confusion of the Imperials and slavers below, his target was in his sights and with a few seconds remaining between him and the ground he performed a somersault, pumping chakra into his feet to cushion his fall.

He landed on the platform, right in front of the Tygerrian slaver. The furry mammal could only look at him, cruel smirk giving way to surprise as Naruto drew a kunai and imbedded it in his neck, a spurt of blood exploded from the wound as the slaver fell to the floor, gurgling.

The Shinobi wasn't finished, using the confusion of the explosions to draw one of his blaster pistols and aiming it right at the group of officers, dropping three of them as the rest retreated to the cover of the stairs. Naruto then spun around, just as a Trandoshan rushed him with a knife. He sidestepped the lunge, grabbed the outstretched hand and snapped it like a twig, following up by grabbing the sentient's neck and snapping it in a similar fashion with a twist of his wrist.

He used the now-limp body as a shield, allowing it to take blaster bolts from the last two standing slavers on the podium. He aimed down the sight of his own pistol, and killed both of them with quick successive shots, putting one to their foreheads and two into their chests each to make sure the job was done right. Satisfied, he dropped the dead Trandoshan and with his free hand made a basic sign and whispered a single word, "Kai."

There was a quick series of echoing bangs, and then all hell broke loose. The eerie silence, before being broken by the sounds of booted feet as the Imperial troopers began surrounding the central dais, was now filled with the sounds of shouts and roars, followed a handful of seconds later by blaster fire and the sounds of combat.

Naruto began to move, drawing his sword from the sheathe at the small of his back as he approached the slaves, the little girl seemed completely unaware of what had just happened, continuing to cry over her mother's still form. The other two slaves shrunk back in fear, while the Wookiee didn't move, simply looked at him with dark, unreadable eyes.

He started with the Wookiee, pumping chakra into the blade of his katana as he swung, cutting the chains holding the great creature at bay before moving onto the others, finishing with the little girl. He checked the child's parent for a pulse, finding none and with a shake of his head he closed her wide eyes and then proceeded to break the inconsolable child's chains. The woman looked roughly the same age as Aayla, was all Naruto could think about as he broke the links with his bare hands instead of his katana, not wanting to scare the child any further.

Naruto couldn't help her, not at the moment. He rose to his feet and walked to the Wookiee, who was rising to his full intimidating height, looking right at him as he stopped right in his path. The blonde Shinobi craned his neck up to look the creature right in the eyes, and then grinned, "Do you know how to use blasters?"

The hulking Wookiee nodded with a grunt.

"Excellent," Naruto chirped as he reached into the folds of his long-coat and pulled out a scroll, tearing off the seal and placing it open onto the ground. He searched the list of kanji until he found what he was looking for, "then you're going to love this."

A puff of smoke heralded his weapon of choice for the towering creature, a heavy weapons blaster cannon. A weapon that would take a fully trained and fit soldier to operate and even then just barely, though for a Wookiee it would be the perfect weapon. It was obvious the great creature shared that sentiment, barking in agreement as he knelt down to pick the huge weapon up with little effort.

A unit of Stormtroopers had just reached the edge of the stairs when the Wookiee brought the weapon in their direction and pulled the trigger, releasing a torrent of red bolts into their ranks, a five second barrage left five dead on the ground and another falling off the edge with a cut off scream.

"Huh," Naruto murmured as he looked at the carnage, "that worked better than I thought it would."

His words were punctuated as the Wookiee made a series of noises which could only be laughter.

"Glad you agree," Naruto replied as he walked towards the edge of the platform and looked down at the chaos below. The fighting below was obviously going in favour of the recently released prisoners, but it was at a heavy cost. The bodies of at least five people were lying around each dead Stormtrooper.

The chaos he saw was something that would destroy their plan, recently freed men, women and children were rushing to the exits while the soldiers and Wookiees took the blasters from the dead soldiers. Naruto saw the danger immediately; at the moment, only death awaited those who left this hangar.

"No," Naruto shouted out into the hangar, "No, don't go out there! You'll die if you go out there! Don't go out there!"

His words were falling on deaf ears.

"**NO!**" Naruto shouted, feeling his voice go hoarse from his shouting, "Listen to me, please don-"

He was interrupted by an echoing roar which was so loud that it almost brought Naruto to his knees, bringing his hands up to hold his ears which were ringing. Where his voice didn't reach them the Wookiees did, and the clamour and chaos stopped. Every one of the freed slaves and prisoners looked up at the platform to see a blond haired human man flanked by a huge Wookiee.

Naruto looked up at the Wookiee – this one was male - with an exhale of breathe, "Thanks for that."

The Wookiee answered with a low mewl.

"Yeah, I know my ears are ringing too," he looked out over the scene, now silenced as nearly a thousand faces all looked up at the podium, "Wow, kind of intimidating now."

He looked at the Wookiee, then back at the crowd and cleared his throat.

"All soldiers and those with combat experience grab a blaster and secure the exits. Anyone who looks like a Stormtrooper comes through, shoot him until I say otherwise," Naruto shouted into the crowd, seeing that people were already moving to commandeer the blasters from their former owners, "All non-combat personnel, please stay out of the soldiers' lines of fire until I say otherwise! Help is coming people! Just be patient and don't panic!"

Orderly movement was now taking place. Civilians who were at one point running to the exits were now moving back, replaced by former Confederate troops and Wookiees armed with blasters, setting themselves up into ranks and firing positions. Naruto watched as the mass of people below him got themselves into place, all following his instructions to the letter.

Once they were all in place, he turned back to his temporary aide and lieutenant, "You understand Basic, right?"

The Wookiee nodded in affirmative.

"Good," Naruto nodded, "I'm expecting some visitors, a Jedi and a handful of guys wearing old Clone Trooper armour, get these guys to not shoot at them; they're friendly."

The Wookiee hesitated a moment, before nodding his head.

"Alright," the Shinobi grinned before looking up at the rafters, seeing movement, "I couldn't have said that any sooner."

There was a soft thumb representing her arrival, followed by a quartet of black cables landing on the ground a moment later. Celeste landed in a crouch and the four ARC Troopers zip wired down the cables and landed in a protective circle, blasters pointing to the four directions of the campus.

"Excellent, you're here," Naruto exclaimed, walking over to the former Shadow and placing his hands on her shoulders, "Just curious, where did that big explosion come from?"

She smiled a little shyly, "Oh, err…Those were the buildings the garrison used as a barracks."

"I love you so much right now," Naruto smirked before turning back to the four ARC Troopers, clearing his throat before he spoke in a commanding tone, "Secure the stairs to the north and the south, two man fire-teams let's move!"

The ARC Troopers moved with purpose, breaking off into their two man teams without a moment of hesitation and moving to their task. Naruto watched them work before turning back to his friend, "I love watching these guys work."

"Military precision usually does that to soldiers," Celeste replied with a nod.

"Good point," Naruto agreed as he looked over the hanger bay, "Let's hope the other units complete their jobs or this will be a really short trip."

"They'll get it done."

"I know; just worrying is all."

Celeste looked at him with a wry smile, "Since when were you a pessimist?"

Naruto looked back at her with deadly seriousness, "Since now."

* * *

Nath Swell was not a man to be taken lightly. The ageing Neimoidian took pride in his reputation and experience. While not nearly as well known or feared as the likes of Grievous or Count Dooku, he was well-known enough to make an enemy commander stop and think before engaging him.

He heralded a now-lost time amongst his people, before the Trade Federation became the dominant force in his people's politics, a time when the Neimoidians actually had some fight in them and didn't fit the now-stereotypical persona as businessmen and cowards. The ageing Admiral sighed in his chair, one of the last of a dying breed.

It was his fleet who fought the Republic, and later the Empire, in the territory of the Purse Worlds. The home fleet had been whittled down thanks to the war, more and more droids began to replace flesh and blood soldiers, training had become lax and as the war intensified, and his ships had been commandeered for what was now considered fruitless offensive actions.

When the Republic struck the Purse Worlds, they came in force, and his own defensive fleet had been too small to successfully repel them. Instead, the ageing Admiral had opted for hit and run tactics: come in fast, hit them fast, and leave fast, not allowing his squadrons to be bogged down and destroyed by the bigger and more powerful Star Destroyers. No, speed was the key with his Carriers and Frigates.

But they had been fighting another seasoned commander, Jedi Master Plo Koon, a skilled tactician, a fine and fearless warrior. Swell had felt great pride in fighting one of the oldest and wisest blades of the Jedi Order. Ancient warrior blood, which he had thought was long spent, began to boil and tingle as he locked horns with one of the finest the Jedi could offer.

Order Sixty-Six came around this time. Koon had been shot down and killed by his own pilots while fighting in the atmosphere of Cato Neimoidia. A few hours later, half of Swell's vessels turned from great warships belching turbolaser and ion fire to becoming nothing more than derelict hulks floating in space as the droid command controls on Mustafar were deactivated. In one stroke, he had lost half of his remaining armada.

He ordered a retreat.

To continue to fight would have doomed what was left of his fleet, and it would have also brought the wrath of the enemy upon his home worlds in retaliation. His thoughts were to retreat now and live to fight another day. It was then that his ship was hit, right in the main engine nacelles, leaving the _Hammer of Neimoidia_, his flagship, a crippled animal in space. She was immediately surrounded, boarded and taken.

He was now a prisoner of the Empire. He remained a prisoner, for almost two years.

For the longest time, he wondered why they had kept him alive, then he realized…they were using him and a few other Confederate commanders as bait, luring in the last great Armada of the Separatists to rip apart and destroy them. He knew their plan. The Inquisitor who tormented him so frequently had made it quite clear what they were going to do - first to his fleet, and then to him.

Life expectancy was short, chances of survival nil and now chances of his fleet getting out of this ambush the Imperials set were slim at best, non-existent at worst. The fleet that had escaped Neimoidia, coupled with remnants and survivors of at least ten other battles which ended the same way would meet their end here, in the orbit of this unknown lump of rock in the middle of the Outer-rim.

It was…absolutely infuriating! The despair that came with his righteous fury only made it worse.

His anguished thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sounds of blaster fire, followed by shouts and screams. He did not hide. He was not a Trade Federation lackey. He continued to sit in his chair, eyeing the steel door, clasping his hands together for his chin to lean on as he waited.

The door opened, slowly with a great creek.

A Stormtrooper, minus his blaster, was the one who opened the door. The clone staggered into the room, attempting for a brief stuttering moment to reach for his blaster pistol holstered to his thigh before the last of his life left him and he fell face first to the ground. The Admiral looked down at the body, noticing a black charcoal mark on his back.

"Wow," a gravelly voice echoed through the darkness behind the now half opened door, "I'm a little disappointed. I remember my brethren being tougher than this."

A clone, dressed in now-ageing Advanced Recon Commando armour, entered the room. He was holding a smoking blaster pistol which he holstered in a smooth motion as he looked over at the Separatist Commander glancing back at him with a calculating eye. Swell could tell almost immediately that he was looking at a clone of a far earlier generation than the Stormtrooper types which guarded him.

"Admiral Swell, I presume?"

The Admiral studied the clone who had invited himself into the interrogation chamber, seeing the familiar face of the long deceased Mandalorian bounty hunter and assassin Jango Fett looking right back at him. He studied the tanned face, dark eyes and short black hair.

"Are you here to kill me?" he asked with wary confusion.

"Not right now," the clone replied, pointing a thumb towards the door, "I'm just a representative."

"Oh, a representative you say?" the Neinoidian replied dubiously, "and just who do you represent?"

"Someone you'll want to meet," Rex replied, "On your feet, Admiral."

"Do I have a choice?" the Admiral asked as he stood up, hand moving instinctively to catch a thrown blaster pistol by the barrel. He checked the weapons cartridge, half listening as his supposed rescuer replied to his sarcastic question with a sadistic smirk.

"Not really. But I'm pretty sure that you'd rather come with me and have the possibility of a chance to fight again than stay here knowing you're going to die a meaningless death."

"I see," The Neimoidian narrowed his eyes, unbuckling a utility belt from around the dead Stormtroopers waist and fastening it around his own, holstering the pistol before answering the former Commander, "Very well, then. Lead on."

* * *

"What's happening out there?" Naruto tapped the earpiece, settling it into his right ear as he listened in for his partner in crimes response.

"Seems that troop movements are concentrated mainly around the barracks," Celeste replied, safely tucked away on the roof of the closest hanger to the scene of devastation, "They're going to start fanning out soon enough, though."

"Gotcha," Naruto nodded his head, eyes closed and frown in place as he thought, turning to the nearest ARC Trooper and motioning him to come to him. The soldier looked at his partner; both stationed at the far exit, before moving towards his proxy commander, "Are you able to check with the hijacking team?"

The clone hesitated, and then nodded.

"Good! Set up a secure line and check to see if they've taken the ship."

The ARC Trooper nodded, hand clasping onto the right side of his helmet as he began finding a secure line between him and the hijacking team barely a hundred meters away from the entrance to their hangar. The soldier purposefully ignored the glare from the crouched Wookiee as he continued his work.

Naruto eyed the clone before bringing his attention back to the small bundle in his arms. The Twi'lek toddler had cried herself to sleep, but he swore he could still hear a slight hiccup escape her cracked lips from time to time. He had placed a blanket over her guardian's body; the woman could have been a mother or an aunt, maybe no blood relation at all. He didn't know, but she deserved the decency to having her body covered.

"I think we've waited on Rex for long enough," the blond murmured as he got to his feet, catching the glances of the ARC Troopers and the Wookiee, "If I know Rex, he'll make it to the rendezvous on time, so we need to as well."

"Yes sir."

"Send word to all soldiers and militia, let them know we're going to be making a run for it," Naruto ordered as he drew his dual blaster pistols to check their energy packs, quickly holstering them again as he picked up the semi-comatose child, "Armed personnel are to create a perimeter around civilians, herd the non-combatants away from the hangar and towards the rendezvous point. Hail the hijacking team and tell them to watch their fire. That goes for the Seps as well."

"Yes sir."

"You hear that Celeste?" he asked, pressing the earpiece into his lobe.

"Loud and clear," came her reply.

"Good! Get your ass down here! I'm going to need your blade!"

"On my way."

Naruto nodded his head to himself before changing the frequency, "Rex, do you read me?"

There was nothing but static.

The Shinobi drew in a shallow breathe, "Shit."

He then made his way towards the stairs, four ARC guards and towering Wookiee flanking him as he descended the steps two to three at a time. The moment he hit the floor he was assailed by stares and looks from the recently freed prisoners, the majority shying away the moment they saw the ARC Troopers and Naruto was sure he could feel the trigger fingers tightening on those who were armed, but a raised hand from him made them stall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the delay…" he began, raising his voice for those in the immediate vicinity to hear, wincing a little when the child in his arms stirred, "…but we'll be making a move shortly. My hijack team has managed to get us transportation and the interceptors have created enough confusion so that the majority of the Imps will be too busy to notice us. There is going to be a firefight though, so I would recommend civilians and untrained personnel remain here until we soldiers clear a path for you."

"Why should we trust you?" a human woman, holding a terrified child in her arms, demanded.

"Well, for starters," Naruto began with a grin as he activated his transformation technique, features and clothes melting into the visage of the Imperial officer he masqueraded barely half an hour before, "I was the one who got you out of your cells. Remember this ugly mug?"

His demonstration got what he was looking for, a collection of gasps and widened eyes, and his visage of the Imperial officer smirked before melting back into the tall, muscular and blond original. The woman was indeed very speechless, for she swallowed a lump in her throat, "What... what are you, a Jedi?"

"Good guess, but no," Naruto replied nonchalantly, "I'm kind of a different breed of animal, though for those of you wishing to see something more familiar, I am working together with a former Jedi."

There was a soft thump, and he turned his head slightly to see Celeste landing in a crouch, rising to her feet and hissing in discomfort as she began to shake her legs. The shining metal of her lightsaber hilt did not go unnoticed by their small crowd of onlookers.

"Speak of the devil," Naruto finished as he looked down at the former Jedi Shadow, "What's the word out there?"

"They're getting over the confusion," she replied, "We got five, maybe ten minutes before this whole area is swarming with Stormtroopers and militia. I recommend going now."

"I second your recommendation," Naruto nodded before turning back to the ever-increasing crowd, "I want anyone with authority front and centre, right now, time is not on our side."

One by one a dozen individuals made their way through the throng of people. Naruto eyed a few towering Wookiees who gave growls of greeting to the one watching his back, a few humans, a Neimoidian, a Mon Calamarian and a Utupaun. He eyed them, noticing their torn and ripped military fatigues and the blasters at their hip, commandeered from the dead Imperials and slavers who now littered the floor.

"You heard my original command?" Naruto asked.

They nodded.

"Good, then step to it. You have two minutes," he ordered with a sweep of his hand, and they moved without hesitation or complaint. The civilians may not completely understand their situation but these guys certainly did, any argument or vendetta could be finished some other time, for now they were all unlikely allies in the middle of enemy territory.

He then turned to Celeste and handed her the child, a look muffling her protest, "This is going to be a fight with blasters, not lightsabers. You're going to lead the civilians to the Frigate. The ARC Troopers are yours to command for this. I'm going to help lead the spearhead."

Celeste glowered at him for a long moment, before relenting and nodding her head, "Good luck."

"You too," He replied, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning and making his way to the front, the crowd of onlookers parting for him. He looked over to see the Wookiee from earlier shadowing him, hefting the large blast cannon as he walked, "I take it you're going to be my wingman for this?"

He got a low howl of agreement in response.

* * *

Rex looked down at his chrono, frowning as he cleaned the blood from his combat knife, "Time's running out; Naruto is going to need to make a move soon."

He turned to his squad, eyeing the two high-profile targets they had acquired from the Imperials: A Separatist Admiral and a high-ranking operative in their Intelligence Service. If anyone had told him a few years ago that he was going to be taking part in such a mission, he would have openly laughed at whoever said it.

But now?

'_How things change over the course of time_,' he thought to himself as the irony of his situation wasn't lost on him.

"It'll take another four minutes to reach them," Jolt said from the rear of their little team, his blaster carbine trained at the corridor they had just come through as his gaze was set straight ahead, over the dozen bodies lying on the floor.

"By then, they're going to be making their way to the Frigate. We're going to need to change plans," Rex agreed as he looked ahead.

Carmine and Lev were in the lead, their illegally-modified blaster rifles trained on anything which came at them. He turned to the Admiral, who was busy reloading his pistol, "When we get you to a comm. unit we're going to need you to send a message to the fleet. Order them to withdraw to the coordinates my people give you."

"I would ask if this were a trap," Swell replied as he slammed the fresh energy pack into his pistol, "But if you wanted to wipe me and my fleet out, then here would have been the easiest and most precise route."

"I agree," the Intelligence Director replied in agreement.

Ruk Sull was a calm and shrewd individual, definitely one of those agents who got to where they were through field work rather than a desk job.

Sull continued, "The only thing I can think of besides their proposal was that they were trying to see if we had any fleet units in reserve, but the Imperials are aware of our desperate situation. It would be a waste of time and resources if they were planning on betraying us."

"As intriguing as that option would have been to me a year or two ago, I can say that Director Sull is correct," Rex nodded his head, eyes snapping behind to see a trio of black clothed Imperial Regulars skid around the corner, quickly dispatched by Carmine and Lev, "The man I answer to believes that the only way the Confederates, us and the Jedi are to survive would be to work together."

"So the rumours were true," Sull said with narrowed eyes, "There is someone gathering the renegades and supposed traitors together."

Rex's reply was accompanied by a knowing smirk, "Our choices are only two: we either die apart or work together and survive. We can't fight as we are now - a few hundred Jedi and ARC Troopers - but if we had the guns of a former Separatist fleet? Well that changes the game, now, doesn't it?"

"Changes the game, indeed," the Admiral smirked, raising his pistol and putting a crimson bolt into another Regular who skidded around the corridor before Carmine could fire, "Ask me that a year ago and I would have called you an idiot, but at the moment an alliance with the Jedi sounds more appealing than the alternative. Get me to a comm. unit, and I'll get my forces out of here. You'll get your fleet, Commander."

Rex offered a quick mock salute in response, "Much obliged, Admiral."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Bought the new Halo game during the weekend, just finished playing the campaign... it was great, as a Halo fan I was a little worried when Bungie sold the rights to the franchise to this new band, 343, but after playing the game I can say that it was a great start to a new saga. The graphics, the gameplay, the action, cut-scenes, even the storyline was great. I ain't going to spoil anything but I think this game feels like a reboot to the entire franchise and it was worth the wait._

_On another piece of Sci-fi news Lucas Arts was taken over by Disney, and they have announced that they will be doing another trilogy of Star Wars movies... this can either go very well or very wrong very fast. Then again, they can't do much worse than Jar-Jar, can they? If they are going to do a new trilogy I hope it'll be from the books, mainly the Thrawn or Dark Empire Trilogy, I would pay to see those in cinema! If I don't see a red-head in the first trailer then I will be sorely disappointed. That's right. I'm a Mara-Jade fan!_


	37. A Fool's Gambit II

_**Chapter 36**_

_**The Fools Gambit II**_

"Okay, everybody knows what to do, right?"

There was a chorus of nods from each of the ringleaders. All seven of them, including Naruto, were crouched in a huddle, looking over and correcting the last few points of this daring escape attempt. He looked over each of their faces, and with a nod of his head, he rose to his full height, followed by the others who then moved to their own concentrations of men and women.

Once again the blond haired Ninja took stock of his quarry and their weapons inventory: he estimated that there were somewhere between twelve to fifteen hundred detainees, of whom some eight hundred were non-combatants – civilians who wouldn't even know which end of a blaster to point at someone - while another two hundred or so were too old, too injured, or too sick to take part, leaving the remaining few hundred – soldiers who were ill-equipped, dehydrated and starving. There were only enough blasters for a quarter of the men who were even capable of fighting; the rest had to make do with knives and crowbars. Naruto even exhausted the vast supply of weapons he kept sealed in scrolls on his person at all times…and still came up short of being able to arm every soldier.

Regardless of their current state of combat readiness, the battle plan was simple enough to be able to pull off with what they had on hand. The soldiers who were armed would move out first and clear out the corridors. Once they gave the all-clear, they would proceed to herd the rest of them through and hold it until they were safely away. The company of Neimoidian shock troopers and his own contingent of ARC troopers would be providing sniper support and suppressing fire. As to ammunition and extra blasters, those men and women without would have to scavenge from those they killed, and if someone with a blaster was killed, then the nearest sentient would pick up the weapon and continue on. Those soldiers who were elderly, injured and sick would travel with the non-combatants and try to arm themselves along the way – this way, the civilians would have a "last line of defence" should it be required.

A low mewl sounded, and Naruto turned to flash a narrow smile at the towering form of his Wookiee bodyguard, still hefting the huge blast cannon he had supplied him, "Yeah, I know, brother. I don't much like the plan either."

There was a grunt of agreement followed by a growl. Naruto did not know how to speak the language of these proud creatures, but he somehow knew what he was saying. Since his visit to Kashyyyk and the Jedi Conclave, he had come to hold the Wookiee people in very high regard – he had even mused to himself on occasion that he might be a Wookiee at heart, such was the kinship he felt with this extraordinary race of creatures. The Wookiees had taken possession of most of the heavy weapons that Naruto had brought with him: blast cannons, rocket launchers and a few grenade launchers, termed as heavies by the rest of them.

"Well, then," Naruto said to himself as he drew his duel blaster pistols and checked their magazines to make sure they were at full power, "Let's get this show on the road, shall we? Squads one and two with me: let's get this party rolling!"

He walked briskly and purposefully towards the main hangar bay doors, followed by his Wookiee companion and two platoons of blaster-wielding soldiers just behind him to his flanks. The only sounds that Naruto heard as they approached the inner blast doors were the smack of three dozen pairs of boots against the concrete, the clinking of weapons, and the beating of his own heart in his ears.

"Is squad three in position?" he asked.

One of the soldiers to his right, a human man with a balding head and a lean build answered him, "They're in position on the roof, and squad four also reports ready on the adjacent hangar roof. They'll give us the sniper fire we need."

"Excellent. Inform the squadron commanders that they're to stay in position for three volleys, and then rejoin with the main formation," Naruto ordered as he pumped chakra into his feet, releasing several faint pulses to gauge any movement at the other end of the blast doors. His chakra pulses acted like a sonar beacon, each one bouncing right back to him a second later. He detected thirty-two humanoid-size figures, formed in what felt like four squads of eight, and from the positioning that each chakra pulse detected them at, they were all jogging their way in said formation.

Naruto turned to the human figure he was passing orders through, Giggs, if he remembered his name correctly, "Thirty two people are heading our way at a brisk jog – probably a platoon of stormtroopers. In five seconds, order Squads Three and Four to fire on them. We have to keep their attention away from the blast doors."

"Got it, Boss."

"Boss?" Naruto asked in slight confusion, eyes sweeping towards Giggs. An image of a grinning Konohamaru Sarutobi suddenly flashed into his mind as Naruto heard the man call him the name that Naruto's old self-proclaimed disciple and rival had first given him. The image left as quickly as it came, but not without causing Naruto to smile nostalgically for a brief second.

"It's what we've decided to call you, and it's probably gonna stick," the man offered with a shrug and a smirk.

There was a snigger from the Neimoidian beside him, this one female by her more slender form, "The human comes in here, instantly assesses our situation, and rallies us into some kind of battle order. I think the term 'Big Boss' suits him better."

"You're right: 'Big Boss' does fit better," A Togruta male agreed with a nod and a grin of sharp teeth.

"Hmm….well, I suppose there are worse nicknames to be stuck with," Naruto allowed humorously, already hearing the sounds of blaster fire and shouting outside.

He instantly straightened up and addressed his troops, "Alright people, look sharp! It's time to make our grand debut!"

A roar of agreement from his self-appointed bodyguard, followed by laughter from the other three Wookiees taking part, made him sigh.

'_Yeah, I think "Big Boss" is probably gonna stick_,' he thought to himself resignedly. He raised his blasters to head-level, muzzles pointed to the ceiling, as he raised his foot and slammed it into the door with a chakra enhanced kick. The inner door immediately gave way and flew outward, taking part of the encasing wall with it as the squeal of tearing metal and the grinding sound of tearing concrete could be heard. The blast-door-turned-projectile slammed into a makeshift bunker and crushed a stormtrooper.

Naruto leaped over the threshold, pointing his two blaster pistols at the nearest group of Imperial soldiers, and opened fire, catching one in the faceplate as he rolled to his feet. He then began advancing, shimmying left and right all the while to avoid their blaster fire while bombarding them with his own. He was followed by his makeshift infantry platoons, quickly forming into ranks and unleashing volleys of blaster fire upon the now-confused Imperial soldiers and stormtroopers, whose numbers had already been cut in half by the sniper fire coming from above.

The gunfight barely lasted twenty seconds, ending with all of the Imperials lying dead on the ground and only one injured on his side - not a bad opening play if he did say so himself. Naruto surveyed the open ground between them and their objective: there were three Frigate-sized ships that he could see, but the one they were looking for was easy enough to find, with the flashes of blaster fire around it.

"That's our objective," Naruto shouted, pointing towards the other firefight with the pistol he held in his right hand, "Everyone hold your position while I send out a few scouts to do some recon!"

"Scouts?" one if his troopers asked warily, unwilling to volunteer to get himself shot while running out in the open by himself.

Naruto's response was to use his two pistols to form his signature cross shaped hand seal, a smirk in place as he called out the name of his first high ranked Ninja technique, "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Nearly a hundred clones popped into existence, which then fanned out and moved across the open ground of the runways towards the commandeered Frigate. It didn't take long for the memories of his dispersed clones to flow back into his mind. Naruto took them in and opened his eyes to look across the battleground.

Turning to his troops, he informed them, "The runways are littered with troops in reinforced positions. My clones will do what they can to whittle them down, but we're all going to need to be ready for a tough push forward."

He turned to see a mass of bewildered faces, and it took a moment before he realised that none of these people had ever seen a Shinobi in action before, let alone seen him create a hundred shadow clones and send them out to fight. Naruto looked up to the night sky and considered his own stupidity before turning back to the crowd of gobsmacked onlookers, addressing them lightly and smartly, "Come on people, I know I'm awesome, but that's no reason for you to slack off!"

Most of the soldiers shook themselves from their stooped frame of mind and moved out, other unarmed soldiers were already filing through the hole Naruto created in the hangar entryway to collect the weapons of the fallen Imperial soldiers and join those already attempting to create and secure a corridor. Naruto looked at the darkened open ground, and realised that Celeste had done more than target the barracks; she had hit the power generators as well! Besides basic emergency power for the running lights, the space port was almost completely dark.

"I love that woman, I swear," Naruto smirked as he created another twenty clones and led them out into the killing fields, another dozen of his original wave had been taken out and their memories were sifting into his mind, building a picture of the area and the resistance ahead. Streaks and flashes of blaster fire lit up the surrounding area as he moved. Seeing a trio of black-armoured Imperial troopers, he quickly downed them with a volley of his blaster pistols as he passed.

Another half dozen clones were dispelled, and with a frown, Naruto created another wave of twenty and sent them out into the field. He idly noted that the way battles played out here was quite different from his battles back in the Elemental Nations: numbers didn't mean as much here as they did when he was fighting in the Fourth Shinobi War. The invention of weapons like blasters had made his clones less effective than he expected. The memories he received showed him that three stormtroopers took out three times their number in shadow clones before they were overwhelmed by the rest.

There was a roar from overhead, followed by an explosion. Naruto turned his head and saw with trepidation that it was the hangar across from theirs, the one where one of his sniper platoons had taken position. The Imperials were calling in air support, faster than he had given them credit for. He pressed the comlink secreted in his ear to hear the chatter.

"_Squad four has been wiped out."_

"_Come in squad four, do you read!?"_

"Shit," Naruto growled under his breath before tapping his comlink to join in the conversation, "Squad three, this is Big Boss! Get your asses off that roof **right now**!"

"_Roger that, Big Boss!"_

Naruto would have let out a sigh at how the nickname stuck, but he was too engaged in trying to keep order within his ranks and assess his situation, "Squad four, anyone still alive up there!?"

There was a moment of silence, followed by a cough, _"This is squad four. We've lost five people up__here. The bastards used a proton bomb on us!"_

"You have the same orders as squad three: Pull out and regroup with the main formation on the ground!" Naruto nearly shouted through the receiver, skidding to a halt and ducking as a blaster bolt zipped past him. He turned his pistols towards the duo of Imperial troopers rushing him and downed them before they could react, "Get your asses off that roof!"

Another roar of engines overhead, another detonation resonated through the air. It wasn't aimed at the hangars this time, but at the runway. Naruto could just make out the ventral section of a ball-shaped cockpit as it passed by, illuminated by the light of the flames from its bomb before vanishing into the night sky again.

"_We've lost squad two. I repeat, squad two has been wiped out."_

"Shit, we need help."

Naruto had never commanded soldiers in action before, at least not since he arrived here. He hadn't taken into consideration the idea of air support, and he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that the stormtrooper units of the space port would be able to adapt and continue operating after their main headquarters had been taken out, such was the demeanour of elite shock troopers like the Stormtrooper Corps. He realised he was still thinking like a dirt general, one who operated with ground units and not with air or space units, and berated himself for his stupidity.

There were just too many variables that he had no experience dealing with in this situation. He needed help.

* * *

Rex didn't hesitate as the door opened.

He went straight in, raising his dual blaster pistols and taking out the two guards with well-placed fire. The three technicians rose from their seats and fumbled for their sidearms, but his two comrades were right behind him and they dispatched them with a few well-placed shots.

He lowered his blaster pistol as Carmine and Rev scanned the control centre. A thumbs-up from Carmine let Rex know that the area had been cleared. The former Director of Confederate Intelligence and the Admiral walked into the room with Jolt bringing up the rear, looking around wearily for a moment before continuing into the small antechamber.

"Will this suffice, Admiral?"

The Neimoidian walked towards the nearest console, grabbing one of the technicians by his collar and pushing him out of the way before he began to push runes in the console, "It's encrypted. Can you break it for me, Sull?"

The Intelligence agent walked over to the console, nudging the Admiral out of the way as he began his work, pushing runes as he sat down on the swivel chair the now-dead Imperial technician had occupied a few moments before. "It's a level-four encryption programme, difficult for most…" he quickly pushed a few remaining runes before stopping, "…but not for me. I'm in."

"Can you bring up a map of the battle in the surrounding space of the system?" Swell asked, looking at the centre of the three-pronged console and the holo-generator in the very centre.

"You do know who you're talking to, right?" Sull asked with a good-natured jest before getting to work again, within moments a holographic image of the planetary system flickered into life before them, another brief moment showed red and blue specks of light representing the Imperial and Confederate vessels in the region.

A growl resonated from Swell's cracked lips as the Neomoidian studied the projection, "They've managed to split the fleet."

"Into three segments by the looks of it," Sull added as he continued to type into the console's keyboard, bringing up a closer image of the battle, "The largest portion of the fleet is here. Looks like they're mingled in with the Imperials pretty good, to the point where they're fighting each other side by side…the second largest segment seems to be fighting for control of the planet's orbit and there's a smaller flotilla at the edge. Looks like they were split from the main body but were able to break away from the ambush the Imperials set for them."

"What about the forces over the planet?" Swell asked as he leaned over the Intelligence operative, hand on his shoulder to give him a better vantage of the situation. "What are they made up of?"

"Looks like half a dozen _Lucrehulk-class _Battleships and a few _Providence-class _Carriers."

"What's happening on the space port?" Rex asked.

Sull frowned at the former commander, but began typing in commands into the console, the image on the hologram changed, showing the perimeter of the space port down to the finest of details. Red dots lining the surface and appearing as two lines that were broken in several places leading to a Frigate immediately stood out, a half dozen blue forms of ball-shaped fighters with rectangular wings performing attack runs against them.

"That must be Naruto's group," Rex surmised with a growl, "He's trying to lead the prisoners to that Frigate."

"They're getting torn apart," Rev said, earning him a glare from his commander.

Rex sighed after a moment and scratched the back of his head, "Naruto is an excellent frontline soldier, but he's never led men in battle - at least not officially. He's inexperienced in fighting a modern war; bet he didn't even consider air support and heavy weapons."

"Sull," Swell said, catching the former Director's attention, "Can you get me into contact with our forces in orbit?"

"Easily, but the Imperials will know our location the moment we send the transmission," the Intelligence Director stated with a nod, "I won't be able to mask the signal - not with this equipment."

"It will do," Swell said without any room for argument, "Send this message to the ships in orbit on an open channel. By order of Admiral Swell, a squadron of fighters is to break through enemy lines and descend to the main Sorenno spaceport with all due haste. We need to clear the skies for our forces to get off-planet. Transmit now!"

"On it," Sull nodded in agreement as his hands danced along the console, inputting commands, crashing security servers and firewalls and generally disintegrating the spaceport's network as he sent the message to the ships in orbit, uploading several viruses as he did so to try and mask his trail, and partially succeeding, "The message has been sent, with your personal identification and command codes, I hope they don't consider it a trick, my friend."

"I hope so too, my old friend," the Neimoidian Admiral replied with a nod before looking up at the ceiling, "We can only hope that the powers that be are on our side."

Rex looked over to Jolt, seeing him nod his head before turning to the two former Confederate commanders he had volunteered to save, "We need to move now."

"Commander?"

The battle wasn't going well.

"Commander!"

Who was he kidding? He wasn't like Admiral Swell. He may have had the ability to rally the fleet and set them upon the goal, but when it came to the battle itself, he just wasn't adequate. The fleet had been split, they were being decimated, and he could not think of anything but to continue on with the objective. Commander Novak Sova looked upon the battle and the fleet he had been entrusted with as they were slowly torn apart.

"Commander," Sova turned to a young ensign with a datapad in hand, who seemed somewhat confused, "We have received a message…from the surface?"

"Terms of surrender, I take it?" Sova asked, trying to keep the cynicism out of his voice.

"No sir! Orders from Admiral Swell!"

It took Sova a long moment to digest the information before turning back to the ensign, "What did you say?"

"What I said, sir, was that we have received orders from Admiral Swell on the surface," the ensign replied, "He was able to escape his capture thanks to some rogue clones and a crazy rescue mission, and he has issued orders for air support around the main Sorenno spaceport to allow him and those under his command to escape."

"It is a trick," Novak said after a moment of hesitation. "There's no way we could be that lucky."

"I thought that as well, sir, but not only are his command codes and personal ID authentic, but he sent an additional message he was sure you would catch." The ensign explained.

"And what would that be?"

"Get off your lazy ass, Sova, and get me some fucking air support!" the ensign answered, before looking at his commanding officer with an apologetic smile, "That's the message we received, and it was word for word."

Novak Sova was silent for a long moment before a smile spread across the Neimoidian's features, "I think we kept three squadrons worth of drones in reserve didn't we?"

"Yes sir."

"Launch them," Sova ordered without hesitation, "And send them to the spaceport. Get that old bastard some air support."

"Yes sir," the ensign responded with not a little enthusiasm as he immediately jumped on his assigned task.

* * *

"There's no way they're going to be able to get to us."

The Neimoidian Commander growled low in his throat in agreement as they looked at the holographic projection of the battle taking place several hundred meters away. Flask watched the battle play out as he put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it with his trusty lighter.

Naruto may not have been experienced in his new office as a dirt commander, but at least he could tell when a strategy wasn't working. The moment the air support came in he ordered the troopers attempted to make the corridor to fall back to the hangar. It looked like casualties were down to a dozen or so, mainly from the sniper team on the roof and a few unlucky men caught in a strafing run.

The former Sergeant thought it over for a moment, inhaling the smoke of his cigarette before blowing it out again, watching as it expanded into the stale air before disintegrating. He then turned to the trooper standing to his right, a former commando combat engineer named Ravage, "How's the ship?"

"Fully fuelled and armed," the engineer replied with a nod, "The droids and drones have been removed, probably scrapped, but other than that she's completely flight-worthy."

"Does that include the gun emplacements?"

"Yeah."

Flask was thoughtful again for a moment, the idea he was planning was risky, but at the moment it was probably the best option they had left, "Spool up the engines and get her in the air. Bring the gun emplacements online and have them fire at anything with an Imperial transponder code. Can we sync the weapons systems to fire automatically?"

"Pretty easy to do…though we'd need about five minutes to do it."

"You've got three," the sergeant replied, lifting his right hand to show him three fingers, "That's about how much time we've got until the engines are ready to get this heavy bird in the air."

"Got it," Ravage confirmed with a quick salute before moving towards the exit of the bridge, pointing to two idle troopers to follow him as he left.

"What are you planning, Sergeant?" Commander Noka asked with unkempt suspicion, hand moving slowly to his sidearm, "You're not planning on leaving them here are you?"

"Of course not," Flask replied with a wave of his right hand, "They can't get to us without huge casualties, so I'm improvising. We're going to go to them."

The grip on his blaster pistol loosened, hand moving instead to massage his chin. "That'll take some careful flying, if you're going to bring this beast over beside the hangar."

"Commander, who the hell do you think we are?" Flask asked with a smile, smoke rising from his half burned away cigarette. "Compared to the maneuver I pulled at the Battle of Mygetto, this is nothing. Better get your troopers in here. This is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride."

* * *

"Well, didn't this just go right down shit's creek without a paddle?"

That wasn't actually a bad analogy of their situation, Naruto thought, as he reloaded his blaster pistols. He had ordered a full retreat back to the hangar, and he and about two dozen survivors of the spearhead were taking cover in a semi-circle of sandbag walls, blaster fire was blazing over their heads as the Imperials began to mobilise their ground forces. There were already nearly three dozen bodies of Imp regulars out there, alongside a half dozen of their own hastily-put-together force.

There was already a quartet of light-armoured troop transports coming to a stop in a similar semi-circle, more black-armoured Imperial soldiers pouring out of them and taking cover behind their transports, letting the armour take the brunt of the damage while they returned fire from the sides. Blaster fire zipped and blazed over their heads, pinging and sizzling as it hit and burned their barricade or the walls of the hangar.

Of course, Naruto's troops weren't exactly helpless, either. They were pouring fire onto the vehicles, and the Wookiees and their heavy weapons were essentially keeping the Imps pinned, stopping them from overwhelming their position. The blast cannon of his self-appointed bodyguard was rattling away, and a rocket flew past and impacted the side of the transport on the far right with a brilliant flash followed by a resounding boom as it went up in flames.

"Why the hell aren't they just calling in the fighters to finish us off? I don't get it!" someone yelled from across the barricade.

"They want to take most of us alive. I'm guessing the slavers are in charge, here," someone else shouted back.

"Fucking inbred mother fuckers!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as his left pistol clicked empty, followed a few shots later by his right. Cursing just as colourfully as the rest of them, he allowed the empty power cartridges to fall to the concrete as he pulled out a few fresh ones to replace them. Blasters may have been cheaper on ammunition than slug-throwers, but they ran out of power the same way the latter runs out of ammunition.

Shadow clones wouldn't help them, here, either. They'd just overcrowd the barricade, and he couldn't make the time to use Jutsu, either. He would need to use hand seals and sitting down while doing so wasn't very good on precision. He also didn't much like being riddled with blaster fire, so that discouraged the idea even more. All he could do was use his blasters like everyone else.

"Oh, fuck me! Is that a tank?!" a yell was heard from Naruto's right.

Naruto looked in the voice's general direction and cursed again, there, coming right towards them was indeed a hover-tank: a TX-130, by the look of the long thin barrels protruding from the sides of the cockpit. It was termed "Heavy Cavalry" by the Grand Army and their successor - an anti-personnel light battle tank.

"Well, this sucks. It looks like we'll need a miracle!"

"No shit, genius!"

Naruto had to agree, but before he could shout out a reply he was taken by surprise when a body slammed against the side of the barrier right beside him, a blaster pistol was immediately pointed at the newcomer, only for the trigger finger to stop with millimeters to spare when he recognized who had arrived. The relief pouring off of him probably showed on his face but he didn't care.

"I take it things went better on your end!?"

"You bet," Rex returned with a grin as he brought his carbine over the edge and fired off a few rounds, managing to down an unlucky Imp who had leaned a little too far away from his spot at the side of the central transport, "Definitely better than this clusterfuck!"

"Thanks a lot, Rex," Naruto returned deadpan as he fired off a few shots.

"I'm not blaming you," Rex replied, squeezing off a few more rounds before taking cover behind the sandbag wall. "You actually did pretty well in ordering the retreat instead of going all gung-ho and getting everybody killed. Whether you like to admit it or not this was kind of a suicide mission to begin with."

"Yeah, I know," Naruto allowed.

"It's a good thing you have me here to get your ass out of the fire," Rex continued, "Admiral Swell was able to get a transmission out to the fleet in orbit. If we're lucky, we'll still be here by the time the drones arrive to tackle the air support."

"That still leaves the ground!" Naruto shot back, pointing with his left handed gun towards the now slowing down nemesis, "I don't know if you're aware but there's a hover-tank coming right this way."

"It's already here," Rex stated, looking up with a pale face. Naruto looked over as well, a chill creeping up his spine as the main turret swiveled round, showing twin anti-personnel repeating blaster cannons aimed right for them.

There was a flash of crimson, followed by a bright flash as the tank exploded in a stream of shattered metal and fire. Another volley of heavy fire lanced into the surrounding vehicles, turning two of them into bright detonations of crimson flame. Naruto could only look on, bewildered before hearing the low hum of ship engines and it was getting louder.

It was the Frigate, Naruto realized hovering in their direction just about a dozen meters off the ground, its laser cannons firing streams of energy upon the now scattering fighters. There was a cheer from the survivors around him as those Imperials not caught up in the initial barrage retreated in what could only be called a rout, all the while the Frigate closed the distance in a heartbeat and lowered to a land barely thirty meters away from them, laser cannons firing away.

The main landing ramp lowered and a small force of twenty Neimoidian Home Guard troopers exited, taking up positions around the entrance as a single, white-armoured ARC Trooper walked nonchalantly down the ramp and waved in their general direction.

"That's our cue, people!" Rex roared, rising to his feet as he spoke, "Create a corridor and get those civilians on the ship, women and children first!"

The two dozen survivors moved from their entrenched position, meeting with the incoming Legionnaires in the centre and creating two lines with five meters between them. The double doors opened and Celeste poked her head out, looking over at Naruto and Rex imploringly to give the all-clear.

"We're clear! Open up the main hangar doors and get everyone onboard!" Naruto shouted over to her, seeing the former Jedi nod her head before disappearing back into the hangar. The blond looked up, seeing the tracer rounds as the Frigate's laser cannons fired at everything and anything not around the hangar.

"How did you get into the hangar?" he asked Rex at last.

The former Commander looked over at his comrade in arms, leaning his carbine against his shoulder as he flashed him a smirk, "There's a whole labyrinth of underground tunnels and catacombs down there - more than we originally thought. It looks like this place wasn't originally a civilian spaceport and the Imps were using it as their main Centre of Operations. We took a shortcut and managed to find an entrance from the underground to the hangar beside yours."

"Hmm," Naruto nodded with a look, "That was lucky."

"It must be rubbing off from being around you so much," Rex quipped.

"Yeah, yeah, I have more luck than brains."

"That's the understatement of the year."

"Shut up."

The huge doors to the hangar opened then with a great shudder and a squeal of hydraulics and motors. The mass of recently-freed people filed out before the hangar doors even finished opening, led by Celeste, who had the Twi'lek child from earlier in her arms, and the two ARC Troopers Naruto left her with. Moving everyone as quickly as they could without creating a stampede, Celeste and the troops stayed focused and continued giving orders while maintaining crowd control. Naruto doubted that they would start trampling each other, though; most of them needed the support of each other just to move. A mass of dirty, dehydrated, hungry and injured victims of the Sith – they didn't have the strength to stampede, so all Naruto had to worry about was making sure they could actually move fast enough to get on board the Frigate without possibly being gunned down.

"We did a good thing today, Rex," Naruto said lowly so that only his friend could hear him.

"That we did," the former Grand Army Commander agreed with a nod, "We did a great thing today, and hopefully this will be the first of many."

"The day's not finished yet, though," Naruto finished, holstering his pistols and digging his hands into his pockets as he walked towards the open boarding ramp of the Frigate, "Come on, we may have severed their chains but we still need to get them off this planet."

"There's still the Sep fleet getting pummeled in orbit," Rex added as he walked beside his new commander, blaster carbine held idly at his side as he reached into his utility belt and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, "We'll need to get them out of there as well - maybe gain a strong ally along the way."

"Since when do you smoke?" Naruto asked with a light smirk.

Rex shrugged as he flipped the cigarette in his mouth and lit his lighter, "Not really very into it, but after a firefight like this I've found it kind of calms the nerves."

"You got a spare?"

Rex looked at Naruto for a long moment, before reaching back into his belt and pulling out another cigarette, giving it to Naruto and lighting it for him as he placed it into his mouth. The blond took a deep drag, and then broke into a series of hacks and coughs which made the grizzled war veteran chuckle.

"How the hell do you smoke these things?" he asked between coughs.

"Lots of practice," Rex replied. "I wouldn't recommend making a custom of it though. It's a bad habit."

"No kidding," Naruto responded.

* * *

If there was one thing Boba Fett had learned since entering the employ of Jabba the Hutt it was that when the crime lord wanted a job done, he made sure you knew about it. The current job was one such time, though the young hunter couldn't really blame his employer for wanting this done as quickly as possible - not with the threats the Emperor was making at the moment.

The young bounty hunter walked with a purpose, now dressed in his father's armour as he made his way towards his ship, not slowing even as the double blast doors opened for him as he passed through. Beyond was the Hutt crime lord's main hangar bay, located in the underground below his Tatooine palace.

The hangar bay was quite large, easily capable of holding two dozen freighter-sized vessels - a huge cuboids-shaped space. The only exit for the ships was a large rectangular exit at the far end, blast doors fully opened to allow the Tatooine sunlight to blaze through. His vessel was midway along the line of ships: the unmistakable form of his father's own craft, the _Slave I_, an experimental _Firespray 31-class _Patrol and Attack Craft his late father was able to commandeer.

His son still used it, even to this day.

The boarding ramp was already open, and the young hunter ascended into the confines of his ship, the small side cloak billowing as he was encompassed by the dim lights of his vessel. Idly, Fett considered that it was time to replace those lights - another cycle and they would burn out completely. He walked through the ship's cargo hold, stopping just long enough to touch the control pad and open the door to the cockpit.

He was greeted by a small mist of cigarette smoke and absently raised his hand to swipe it away as he entered the cockpit and looked at the figure lying lazily on the co-pilots chair, a lit cigarette in her mouth as she exhaled another mass of smoke, "Hey, welcome back."

"Can't you do that outside?" he asked as he walked up to the main console, pushing a few buttons and opening the emergency ventilation vents. The smoke flew out as the ship replenished its breathable air, leaving the girl looking at him with a bemused expression as she plucked the cigarette from her mouth and put it out on an ashtray on her side of the console, alongside a dozen others.

"Go outside every time I want to take a drag, are you crazy?" she asked in a slightly accented voice.

"It's a nasty habit."

"It calms my nerves," She retaliated easily, "Especially with you being in there for so blasted long."

The young Mandalorian could do nothing more than sigh as he reached up and undid the locks around his helm, taking it off and placing it to the side as he sat on the chair and began inputting commands into the main console, there was a whine as the main ramp closed with a hiss of hydraulics, followed by the cockpit blast door as the _Slave I _became airtight.

"So we got a job?" his _partner _asked.

"Yeah, a big one," Fett replied as he hit the starter, feeling the engines come to life before the low hum kicked in to prove it, "We're going after a big fish, a rebel who's been a real thorn in the Empire's side."

"Sounds big," the girl said as she leaned back in her chair, drawing her blaster pistol and twirling it around slender fingers. "What's the bounty on him?"

"Around five hundred thousand," Boba replied, and he suppressed a smirk in seeing her almost lose her grip on the pistol.

"Five hundred thousand?" she asked in disbelief.

"That's just for him," Fett continued as he began doing safety checks to the ships internal systems. "It's one point two million for his entire crew."

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive for him, the rest they don't seem to care about." Fett answered, giving his partner a brief glance, "I need you're A-game for this one, Sin."

"You got my A-game for this one, Bo."

Sintas Vel was another child bounty hunter, the same as him. She wasn't a Mandalorain though; in her case, she was a Kiffar who had decided early on to take up a life of bounty hunting shortly after her parents had died. She was an attractive woman with long black hair done up in a ponytail, piercing blue eyes, high cheeks bones and a small pointed chin. Her cheeks were adorned with three black stripes a piece, marks of her people bestowed upon them at birth. The two of them had decided on a temporary alliance for a tricky job and had been partners ever since.

"So what's the name of this guy?" she asked as she holstered her pistol.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Fett replied, seeing a slight widening in her eyes, "What?"

"Nothing," she replied as she leaned back in the co-pilot's seat, placing her hands behind her head as she looked up at the ceiling, "It's just that I swear I've heard that last name somewhere before: Uzumaki."

"Strap yourself in, Sin," Fett said as he clipped his safety harness into place, watching as she did the same. He was about to push the throttle and bring the _Slave I_into hover when a proximity alarm blared from his side of the cockpit. He removed his hand from the hover throttle and watched as a familiar ship came into view.

"Your Ex, I take it?" Sintas joked.

"Not funny, Sin," Fett replied as he watched Aurra Sing's skiff leave the hangar.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Merry Christmas, I was hoping to have this chapter done and uploaded by Christmas Eve but better late than never eh? Once again thanks goes to my betareader for sifting through the crap for me._

_A lot of people have been asking me about what Naruto's main role in the rebellion is going to be, if he would be leading it, to be honest I'm not so sure myself, but he isn't going to be the overall leader. I've seen too many fanfiction where Naruto becomes the centre of everything, kind of annoys me to be honest. So no I don't plan for him to be the overall leader, the Jedi, the Clones and the Seps have their own leaders, and Naruto wouldn't want to be bogged down, he'd much rather be out there on the frontlines, something he wouldn't be able to do if he was a member of the council._

_On another note, the relationship category of this story, a lot of people have been asking if I would add Celeste into the mix with Naruto and Aayla. I've been trying to say no for a long time, but a lot of people have asked if I will do it. So I've decided to leave it in your hands, a new poll is on my fanfic page, just go there and vote on what you want to see, yes or no._


	38. Cause and Effect

_**Chapter 37**_

_**Cause and Effect**_

Contemplation was something one learned when one regularly travelled, least of all through the vast, near endless abyss of space. During her time as a Jedi, and now as a Shinobi under Naruto Aayla had spent a great deal of her time within the bulkheads of a starship, left alone with her friends and her thoughts.

During her former and current careers Aayla had learned the art of contemplation quite well. She had also learned calm, serenity and patience during these long terms of travel. She had also come to see the true terrifying beauty of the vacuum of space, the starry darkness, the black twilight and the glow of a sun and planets in a star system.

Yes, space was beautiful but also deadly. The lack of oxygen or any other elements meant that no one could survive in the vacuum without protection, and the effects of violent decompression showed this danger all too well. Still Aayla felt a keen serenity, sitting in light meditation within the confines of the Star Destroyers recently remodelled viewing gallery.

Her role in the negotiations was minimal, simply as a representative of the Shinobi, few in number as they were. The main importance of this situation was the negotiations of an alliance between the Jedi and the rogue Clones, and those negotiations were well and truly underway and looking very promising.

She would have rather been with Naruto on his assignment, but he wanted someone who knew the Jedi, who knew the Clones and who he trusted more than anything. The Shinobi may only be four at the moment, but Naruto had made it clear that they would be a different faction of this planned force, not subservient but equal.

He hadn't said it but Aayla knew that Naruto wanted to recreate the Shinobi here, with a different creed and a different set of ideals. Aayla didn't know what he planned with a rebirth of the Shinobi, and it was something she wanted to ask him. Her main fear was a mercenary army of chakra wielding soldiers working for the highest bidder. They'd make the Mandalorians look like common guardsmen.

That was the source of her contemplation.

The blast doors at the other end of the room opened, spilling light into the darkened chamber which until now had only been lit by the stars. A shadow fell across the chamber, and Aayla opened her eyes and turned her head to see who had impeached on her meditation space.

It was T'ra Saa, the Neti Jedi Master glided into the chamber with an elegance very few people could naturally possess. Aayla did not rise, and watched as her unofficial teacher during her Jedi days stood beside her and sat down, crossing her legs and for a time watching the starry darkness through the main screen.

"Negotiations have come to an end." The Jedi Master said softly.

"Mm," Aayla hummed, closing her eyes as the blast doors closed, once again darkening the recently created observation deck.

"The alliance has been finalised," T'ra Saa continued, herself closing her eyes and settling into a calming trance. "The younglings will be protected within these walls until we can find a more permanent hiding place for them. The Clones have also agreed to hold off any raiding campaigns until such a time."

"Good news." Aayla allowed.

"Yes, very good news." The Neti agreed with a nod. "We're about ready to send out Jedi teams to look for a hospitable planet outside of the Empires influence."

"That's regions from the Core to the Mid-rim out of the question," Aayla said, opening her eyes to look over at her former teacher and friend. "Outer-rim territories would probably be the best, largest region of the galaxy by far, the Empire can barely police the entire region and there are a lot of uninhabited planets out there. The only other option is the Unknown Regions."

"Which could hold dangers as bad as the Empire," T'ra Saa shook her head, and Aayla nodded hers in affirmative. "Just because the territories of the Unknown Regions haven't been explored by us doesn't mean there's nothing in there, remember the _Outbound Flight_."

Aayla knew about the _Outbound Flight_. It was a Jedi led operation to try and explore the unknown regions before the Clone Wars had started. The vessel, along with all aboard, had been missing and considered lost not long after it entered the Unknown regions, no one knew what happened to it but it had been agreed that the vessel and all those aboard had been lost.

It had been a tragedy for the Jedi; with just over thirty Jedi Knights and Masters aboard the exploration vessel it had been considered a great loss for the Jedi of the time. Almost every Jedi had known and respected someone who had volunteered for the _Outbound Flight _project and the entire Order had been in a state of mourning for a week after.

If only the Jedi knew that the disaster of the _Outbound Flight _had just been the tip of the iceberg, and a sign of things to come.

"The Unknown Regions are too risky to explore, even for a safe haven from the Empire," Aayla said at last, taking a deep breath. "There are plenty of uninhabited planets off the Empires notice. The Jedi just need to find the perfect planet to hide."

"_The_ Jedi," T'ra Saa asked with a raised brow. "It sounds like you no longer consider yourself one, Aayla."

"I'm not," Aayla replied, looking over to her friend. "I've had my rank as Knight revoked by Master Yoda, at least for the meantime. I've been emotionally compromised Master Saa, I admit that."

"I know." T'ra Saa said, lowering her head. "I know that we've probably lost you from the Order, but there's one thing I want to ask you. What are you going to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Aayla asked with a wan smile. "I'm going to follow Naruto, help him rebuild his people... and make sure he does it right. I will be his conscience, making sure he doesn't stray and become the very thing he's gearing up to fight."

"You're going to become a Shinobi, then?"

"Yes." She replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that." The Neti shook her head as she stood up, taking a few steps towards the wide screen before turning around. "Are you sure being a Shinobi is the path you want to take? You're time as a Jedi is at an end, but with your abilities and knowledge you can become anything you want and be successful."

"I'm sure," Aayla responded without hesitation. "I may have the ability and the credentials to be anything, but not under the Empires rule, and so long as Naruto remains a Shinobi I will follow him."

T'ra Saa said nothing, remaining where she was and watching Aayla, focusing on her and remembering the little girl who had run through the halls of the Jedi Temple laughing and playing with her friends, the little girl who had been nurtured into a Jedi by herself, Tholme and Vos. In that moment the little girl was replaced by the young woman sitting across from her.

Just because she wasn't going to be a Jedi anymore didn't mean that she was going to follow the same path as Anakin Skywalker as she and the rest of her former teachers had feared. She was a different person from Anakin, a stronger person. T'ra Saa needed to have faith in her, and trust that she would not fall the same way as Anakin fell.

Yes, T'ra Saa would have faith in her.

She had faith in the little girl taken from a life of slavery and brought under the wing of the Jedi and turned into this strong, resilient and noble woman.

"He's coming back."

The older Jedi turned her attention back to the younger woman as she rose to her feet and walked over to the screen, placing her hand against the duraglass pane, eyes closed. She was a gentle presence in the force, at ease and calm.

"You're bond with him has become this strong," T'ra Saa uttered under her breath, folding her arms under her bust as she contemplated. Aayla was indeed beyond the reach of the Jedi at this point. Her bond with Naruto had become so strong that she felt his presence even when he was light-years away. To a force-sensitive such ability was proof of a powerful emotional bond.

"Strange," Aayla's quizzical voice brought the Neti back from her thoughts. "He seems sheepish, really sheepish... what has he done now?"

There was a flash of light and a metallic form appeared in the distance, coming up as nothing more than a small dot in the vastness of space. Aayla spun on her heel, giving T'ra Saa a look which the Jedi immediately understood and together the two of them exited the observation deck, making their way along deserted corridors to reach the main turbolift to the bridge. The ride up was short and quiet and together the two of them exited the lift and made their way into the busier bridge of the Star Destroyer.

Even with the bridge being busier it was still fairly deserted, with nothing more than a skeleton crew taking up the main command consoles. Out of the hundreds of rogue clones only a few dozen had experience in manning the command systems of a Star Destroyer. Most of the more base systems were running on slave drives and basic artificial intelligence programs.

Standing before the communications console of the main command deck stood the figures of Obi-wan Kenobi and Alpha's second-in-command, who had given himself the codename Bravo. It was something the higher echelons of the new Free Clone Army had adopted. Those considered Lieutenants of Alpha had taken on the follow up names of the Phonetic alphabet, from Alpha to Golf.

"What's going on?" T'ra Saa asked as the two women approached.

"We have an incoming ship, identified as a Frigate of the _Munificient-class_." Bravo replied.

"A Separatist Frigate, out here?"

"There's also another smaller vessel at the fore."

"They've already identified themselves as the _Morning Star_, and we've also confirmed that the ship leading them is the _Will of Fire_," Obi-wan said as he looked over to Aayla with a smile. "By the looks of it his little mission appears to have been a sweeping success."

"We managed to contact him, you're timing was perfect actually." Bravo said as he pressed a few buttons on the comm. System. "Can you hear us Commander?"

"_Loud and clear!" _came the familiar reply. _"The mission was a success, managed to get a hold of about two thousand freed slaves and a fully armed and fuelled Frigate."_

"Very good news Naruto," Obi-wan replied with a nod. "Were you followed?"

"_Nah, did a couple of micro-jumps and released a half dozen decoy probes," _Naruto replied flippantly. _"The Imperials were sent on a wild goose chase, probably ended up at Ord Mantell."_

"We'll probably be moving on anyway, just to be on the safe side." Bravo stated as the turbolift doors opened revealing a handful of other senior officers and Jedi Masters, including Alpha, a few of his Lieutenants and Master Shaak Ti; "Anything else to report, commander?"

Aayla sent a quizzical look Shaak Ti's way as she came to a stop, "Commander?"

The council member shrugged, "We offered him a permanent seat on the council and rank of General, but he just smirked and said he would rather be a battlefield commander."

Aayla sighed, raising her right hand to rub her forehead, "Sounds about right."

"_Yeah, there is one little thing." _Naruto replied over the line, and his voice gave away a sheepish and borderline nervous tone. _"We also picked up a Confederate Admiral and the acting Director of what's left of Confederate Intelligence. We figured they'd be helpful."_

"You liberated two high ranking Separatist officers?" Alpha asked with a frown.

There was nervous laughter down the line, and this brought everyone's attention to the comm. Console. _"That's not the only thing we brought along."_

Any questions were silenced and replaced by foreboding when proximity alarms blared, echoing through the very halls. Aayla could feel the sudden panic and foreboding felt across the ship. A panic she herself felt when she saw flashes of light, dozens of flashes of light, each one representing the arrival of a vessel.

"We have multiple contacts!" A clone yelled from the right crew pit. "We have Separatist warships... fifteen, twenty one, and thirty... no forty three!"

"Arm weapons," Alpha ordered sharply. "Get the sublight engines online, spool up the hyperdrive, bring us about now!"

"Hold on a minute sir," Bravo stopped as he looked at the comm. System, taking in the readings. "We're getting basic communications from the fleet."

"_We kind of tagged along with these guys as well." _Naruto finished sheepishly.

"They're broadcasting surrender signals!"

"What?"

"They're surrendering sir!"

Aayla found herself massaging her forehead again, muttering under her breath as she attempted to lessen the headache she was getting. "He goes to free slaves and comes back with an entire Separatist fleet as well. I really need to take part in his away missions."

"I think I can make that an order, if you want?" Alpha was also massaging his temple, attempting and barely succeeded to process the information he was getting. "Tell them, and I can't believe I am about to say this, that we accept their surrender."

* * *

"Of the one hundred and fifteen Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers and Escorts about fifty three were able to follow us in escape, scouting squadrons have already been scattered to try and find anyone else who was able to retreat separately but for now none have been found. Thirty seven of the escaped warships have suffered varying degrees of damage, eight of which would be considered critical." The small group of officers and allies listened to the Ensign's report with varying degrees of trepidation. "Vessels determined as such include the Cruisers _Seleucami, Geonosis _and _Mygeeto_... the Battleship _Celestial _and the Carrier _Dominant_. These vessels have suffered serious structural damage, and most of their weapons are out of commission... engineer teams have considered any attempted repairs on these ships as a wasted effort."

"I see." Admiral Swell rubbed his forehead as he took in the information. It was unfortunate, but such was the fortunes of war. "Begin evacuations of those vessels considered unable to be repaired, repost affected crews across the fleet and prepare scavenger units to strip any useful materials."

"Yes Admiral."

"It will be best to clear all data from their hard drives as well, so as not to compromise any of our hidden bases or safe ports." Sull added, looking over at the Admiral who nodded in agreement.

The Ensign saluted and turned on his heel, moving on to make sure that the orders were followed. Once he left the two officers turned their attention to the other four sentient beings in the room. "Now that that's out of the way I suppose we should be getting down to business. I take it you are the leader of this little band?"

Naruto shrugged, "Not really, the Clones and Jedi have their own hierarchy and command structures. I'm just the guy who hatched the plan, and these are the ones who were crazy enough to follow me."

"Crazy enough," Rex breathed out a sigh before turning to Celeste. "He really is like this all the time, I thought you were kidding."

"You were with us long enough to know by now," Celeste replied with a shrug. "

"I... see," Sull replied with a face of stone.

"Anyway, if you want to see about solidifying an alliance you really should begin negotiations with them. The main leaders you will be dealing with will be Grand Jedi Master Yoda and General Alpha." Rex explained. "They have been selected as the overall leaders of the coalition."

"And where do you and you're comrades fit into this?" Swell asked.

"Naruto here has recently been promoted to a Commander," Celeste said with a shrug. "As for the rest of us... well."

"Oh I almost forgot," Naruto said suddenly, before turning to his two comrades with a sheepish grin. "Congratulations, you two have been promoted."

"What?" Rex asked, after a moment of silence.

"When?" Celeste demanded.

"Before we left," Naruto replied, taking a step back and raising his hands as the former Clone Commander and Jedi Shadow advanced on him with piercing glares. "You've both recently been promoted to the rank of Captain's, again congratulations."

"You were going to tell us... when?" Celeste asked with a raised brow.

"I was... planning on it, but I kind of forgot," Naruto replied hesitantly, before his eyes widened marginally. "Shit I forgot again, Aayla's been made into a Major."

"A Major," Rex mouthed. "How was she made into a Major? Do we even have enough troops to spontaneously promote four people up in rank?"

"Well they are kind of thinking of joining," Naruto added pleadingly, pointing at the Admiral and his lieutenants.

"They have their own hierarchy," Rex pointed out.

"Excuse me, we're still here." Sull coughed, getting their attention.

"Oh," He at least had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry about that."

Swell watched the blond haired man for a long moment. "Why do you think we, once sworn enemies of the Jedi and the Clones of the Old Republic, would join forces with them?"

"Mutual survival," Naruto informed bluntly. "Let's face it at the moment you and you're fleet are the strong man in this proposed Alliance, just over fifty fully crewed, full armed and fuelled warships of war against a Star Destroyer and her flotilla. However there are things that the Jedi and Clones possess which you lack."

Swell raised a brow questioningly, "Such as?"

"Elite shock troops, special forces, people with leadership experience and that little strength known as Force sensitivity," Naruto continued, taking a few slow, winding steps around the holotable separating them from the Confederate officers. "Most of the Clones on that Cruiser were either former Commandoes, ARC Troopers or high ranking officers, most of the adult Jedi were former Commanders, Trainers, Spies and Generals. "

"We have that." Sull countered.

"You have the _army_, but you lack the Special Forces and spies, we can provide that." Naruto replied simply, folding his arms. "Look we can try and sell the idea of an alliance with a battalions worth of battle hardened Clones who could rip a small army apart, and two Companies worth of Jedi who could do the exact same thing but we already know that you've decided to join us. You wouldn't have followed my ship and had gone you're separate ways."

"Maybe we followed you because handing in both Jedi and Clones may give us a pardon with the Empire." Swell said simply. Immediately the atmosphere in the room changed from one of simple negotiation to one of tension and borderline suspicion.

"Come on," Naruto replied with a smirk, not missing a beat even as Rex and Celeste tensed. "I doubt you two are cowards, and with the hatred you both hold to the Empire for not just defeating the Confederacy but also for the sanctions on your planets and the enslavement of your peoples. I doubt you'll go grovelling to them, even with a thousand Clones and Jedi."

There was a long moment of silence before Swell broke out in a croaking laugh, "The boy is good."

"He's also insane." Sull said in way of agreement.

"I get that a lot." Naruto smiled.

"_Really _he does." Celeste agreed.

"His friends are just as bad."

"Hey!"

"We will need help with the evacuations of the heavily damaged ships. A Jedi's abilities will come in handy, and also make things go a heck of a lot faster."

"We'll see what we can do," Rex replied with a nod. "I can think of about two dozen Jedi who would be more than happy to help, and another three dozen who will help with a little coaxing."

"Well then, I suppose we'll need to get in touch with Master Yoda and General Alpha."

"What a coincidence, they should be hailing you any minute now."

"And we're going to go on ahead," Celeste finished.

"Why is that?"

"He has a girlfriend who's probably going to kick his ass." The former Jedi Shadow informed.

"And we're going to enjoy it." Rex finished with a smirk.

"Gee, thanks."

* * *

Aayla watched closely as the Separatist shuttle entered the cavernous confines of the Star Destroyers hanger, flanked by a duo of ARC-170's as it settled onto the metal decking with a slight lurch of its landing gear. Its circular dimensions allowed memories of the war to return, where she had seen these same ships act as troop transports as well as diplomatic shuttles, similar to how the Grand Army used the LAAT's.

This one wasn't being used as a troop transport, it had another purpose entirely. Within the hull of that vessel was the most senior surviving commander of the former Separatist navy, alongside one of his lieutenants and most likely an honour guard of heavily armed combat troops. They were ready on this end, with Alpha and Yoda in attendance, surrounded by a half dozen Jedi Knights and a line of Clone Troopers in full armour connecting their delegation to the shuttle, their compact blasters held at attention.

While they were waiting for their once enemies and possible allies to make an appearance the former Jedi knight took into account that the hanger was almost half empty, with several shuttles and fighters out in the cold depths of space, either moving to the _Morning Star _with medical teams or to the heavily damaged Confederate ships. There were maybe twelve heavily damaged warships out there, unable to survive another jump into hyperspace. They would have to be scuttled, and their crews evacuated.

Her thoughts were suddenly thrust to the side when the landing ramp lowered with a whirl of hydraulics and a sudden hiss of steam. Aayla was suddenly on alert, expecting a platoon worth of Super Battle-droids to march down the ramp, guns held at attention. She was surprised to instead see flesh and blood Neimoidian Home Guardsmen, six in total, descend to the decking and stand to attention. The Admiral and his Lieutenant followed close behind, walking past the guards who quickly and professionally remained where they were.

Behind the Separatist leaders came some more familiar faces, and Aayla felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him. Naruto was exactly as she remembered him, no sign of any injuries or severed limbs, which was always a good thing. Rex flanked his right and Celeste his left as they stepped onto the metal decking.

He looked back and forth before settling his azure eyes on her, and smiled a smile which would light up a room. The former Jedi could do little more than smile back, beginning a mental countdown in her head.

She wanted nothing more than to run up to him and kiss him with all the passion she could muster, but managed to remain professional as the two factions met in the middle. Words were exchanged, some of the tension seemed to lift from their collective shoulders and then Alpha motioned for them to take the negotiations to somewhere more private.

She counted the seconds until the possible future leaders of the alliance exited the hanger through the main blast doors, waiting until they closed with a hiss then threw caution to the wind and began walking fast towards her lover. Naruto saw her approach, as did Celeste and Rex, who looked at each other knowingly before moving off to the side.

Aayla closed the last twenty meters at a sprint, jumping into his arms and kissing him hard on the lips, their tongues began a short lived battle for supremacy as she latched her arms around his neck and he grabbed her hips, keeping her firmly in place as he explored the inner cavity of her mouth. She moaned at the contact, mind going numb from a slow depletion of oxygen.

She wasn't sure when they parted, but when they did they were both flushed and both panting heavily. The former Jedi then allowed her head to rest on the crook of his neck, closing her eyes as she listened contently to his heartbeat.

"Miss me?" he asked between gasping breathes.

"Mm," was all Aayla could say, not trusting her own voice to form coherent words at the moment.

"I was only gone for three days, Aayla."

"Was it that long?" she asked playfully.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Aayla was chastising herself for missing him as badly as she did. He was only gone for a few days and here she was missing him like some lovesick teenager. Was this what love did to a person, make them unable to live without someone? Too think about them when they weren't together?

Her inexperience in this could be pretty mortifying.

"It must be nice."

Rex looked down at the smaller form of Celeste, "What?"

"To be in love." She replied, looking wistfully at them.

"Want to join in?" Rex asked with a bit of teasing in his voice.

"What?" the former Jedi Shadow asked, mortified. "Hell no, it would be so weird."

"Explain?"

"Aayla is like a sister to me, and Naruto is like a brother. Any romantic feelings I may have had for him have been replaced by that." She said with certainty, certainty that she felt. She may have had a bit of a crush on Naruto when she first met him, it was called lusting after the hero who saved her life, but as time went by she saw that Naruto and Aayla had something she couldn't match, and she was okay with it. They just clicked, fell in love and it showed.

"So you wouldn't jump in if they asked?"

Celeste looked at him, features scrunched up in slight disgust.

Rex chuckled at her expression.

"I do envy them though." Celeste allowed. Somewhere deep down she hoped she would have that one day. The way they looked at each other, with such softness, such love that only a retard would be unable to see it. It would make most people feel a pang of jealousy, though envy was probably a better word.

Strange, when she was a Shadow of the ancient Jedi she never even thought of it, the idea of finding someone and settling down. Her work was her life, but now, with that life well and truly behind her she found herself thinking of such things. Now she saw them and any thoughts of her rejoining the Jedi of now were long lost.

"So you won't be rejoining the Jedi, then?" Rex asked.

Celeste shook her head in response.

"Do you not agree with their views?"

"It's not that," the millennia old former Jedi replied with a shrug. "The Jedi's code isn't necessarily wrong. It's just another way to live. The idea of no emotional attachments means that they can concentrate on other things besides love. Obviously the way they live won't be for everyone, but the Jedi never forced their members to stay, you could resign at any time."

"So you're resigning?"

"From what I've heard the Order has been destroyed and reorganised at least three times since I was put in hibernation, to technically there is no order to return too for me." Celeste replied, looking up at the tall commando with a flirty smile. "Besides, if you go by that idea then I'm much too old to join the Jedi Order, right?"

"I suppose."

"Now it's just getting ridiculous," Celeste muttered suddenly. Rex looked at her questioningly before looking back, eyebrows raised and a silent oh rounding his mouth. The two of them were at it again, kissing quite deeply and passionately under the watchful and in some cases disbelieving gazes of the six Separatist guards, as well as a few technicians and mechanics doing rounds. "Seriously, they'll be stripping each other next."

"Can't have that," Rex said with a sigh.

"No, we can't."

Rex chose that moment to interrupt their personal reunion, coughing into his hand to gain their attention. He shrugged off their glares before pointing out the obvious. "I know you guys missed each other and all, but please get a room."

"Huh?" was their eloquent responses, slightly dazed from taking each other in.

"I know you two missed each other, but please keep your own surroundings in mind." Celeste said firmly, hand rubbing her forehead. At their innocent expressions she used her free hand to point.

They looked around, seeing the small crowd watching them, some hesitantly, some intently, some annoyed, others disbelieving. Their heads each did a full hundred and eighty degree movement before realising flashed across both their pairs of eyes and they quickly split up, looking embarrassed, Naruto scratching his cheek, which was flushed and Aayla looking so embarrassed she would probably overheat, if the full body flush was any indication.

"Get a room."

"And screw each other silly."

You would expect them to argue the choice of wording, sound ashamed and nervous and all sorts of other difficult emotions. But they simply looked at their friends in apology before Naruto grabbed Aayla's hand and began walking towards the exit at a fast pace. Celeste and Rex watched them go, shaking their heads in unison before turning back to each other.

"They're taking it seriously, aren't they?" She asked with mirth.

"Oh yes," Rex replied before looking around. "Want to commandeer a shuttle and see about retaking our ship before the ARC's decide they like it?"

"Please, lead on."

* * *

"So, how's it going?"

T'ra Saa flashed a smile at her long time friend, "You should be getting regular updates."

"I am, but considering you're in the room I think you'll be able to give me a more precise assessment." Tholme replied as he lifting his cup and Caff and took a sip, revelling as the hot liquid made its way down his throat before looking back at his fellow council member. The two of them were currently in a half empty cafeteria, enjoying the silence.

"Which one, the pact between us and the clones is pretty much finalised." T'ra Saa shrugged. "There will be some tension for a while, but it'll die down once old camaraderie is reignited, plus we now know that those left won't shoot us in the back."

"I know that much, I was asking more along the lines of our talks with our former enemies." Tholme replied.

"They're progressing," T'ra Saa allowed, seeing his questioning gaze and sighing. "The General and Master Yoda are trying to negotiate a treaty to bring us all on equal footing, but there are a few issues. Like the fact that the Separatists are bringing the manpower and materiel into the relationship, plus a number of troops equal to a sector army while our own manpower equals to a small flotilla and a thousand soldiers if we're lucky, and that's both the clones and us."

"So the Admiral thinks his people should be calling the shots because they're bringing more quantity into this alliance?" Tholme asked.

"More or less, though the Admiral does admit that although his forces are bringing the quantity we and the clones will be bringing the quality, with nearly six to seven hundred Clones, two hundred Jedi and some other elements." T'ra Saa continued as she absently swirled a spoon, creating a minor whirlpool in her cup. "I think he can be talked into allowing us our autonomy, but as too supreme command we're drawing a blank."

"Has the idea of a council been put forward?"

"It has, but the Separatists are worried that if it becomes a triumvirate then they'll be overruled by the Clone and Jedi representatives, they propose something more along the lines of a senate or a council of twelve."

"That will put us in the minority," Tholme frowned.

"Exactly," the Neti master affirmed.

"What about a Shinobi representative?"

"A Shinobi representative on the council? With only four Shinobi in existence, three of whom are recently out of training and still technically considered Jedi even though they resigned?" T'ra Saa asked with a look. "They'll never go for it."

"Well what about that Frigate full of soldiers and civilians out there, if we can convince them to join the Shinobi instead of the Separatists then we may have enough clout to put one of them on the council, and if we can do that we may have enough representatives to at least be a vocal minority." Tholme explained.

"What you're thinking is to give Naruto his own legion?" T'ra Saa frowned.

"Have you heard some the reports from our medical teams, they almost worship him for what he did. He managed to pull off an escape of several thousand people, soldiers and civilians alike, from a heavily fortified Imperial military base. Okay there was a major battle going on overhead, and he had plenty of help, but he still managed to pull it off." Tholme explained as he took another gulp of his Caff. "At the moment if any of the people on that Frigate were asked to follow him, they would do it in a heartbeat."

"There's also another problem though, that his idea of tactics and command are out of date by several thousand years. He has no grasp of modern warfare, back on his home planet his people were still using swords and knives to fight, the idea of slug-throwers or blasters are completely foreign to him, let alone air or orbital support." T'ra Saa pointed out with a shake of her head. "He has the basic grasp, but he's still thinking like a dirt general in a medieval age. The reports of him being completely unprepared for the aerial support says it all."

"Granted, he needs some work on tactics before he can successfully lead an army into combat, but at one point we were exactly the same, remember the beginning of the Clone Wars?"

"Those early mistakes were costly Tholme," T'ra Saa sighed as she leaned against her chair. "Most of our losses were from the first year, Jedi killed by the dozens, hundreds even, and taking their legions with them. If we tried that same approach now then you can say goodbye to Naruto and his Legion before they became a competent fighting force."

"So we teach him," Tholme retorted lightly. "Teach him our mistakes and gains. Give him a better idea of how a modern war is fought. The records of the early days of the Clone Wars are a good place to show him what not to do, while records of latter stages are a good way of showing him what to do."

"You think he'll learn fast?" T'ra Saa asked with a raised brow.

"I think so," Tholme allowed.

"He'll also need experience, from what I have gained of him he is more of a soldier instead of a commander. Give him an objective and he will get it, but give him command of an army and he will expect them to do what he does, and from what Aayla has been telling me about him in the field he is a man who leads from the front." T'ra Saa explained this as she took a sip of the Caff. "He's a soldier Tholme, not a battlefield commander."

"Yet we've already promoted him as such." Tholme countered dryly. "Rex vouches for him, and Alpha trusts his input. The Clones see a diamond in the rough with Naruto in terms of being a possible battlefield commander, or else they wouldn't have promoted him like they did."

"There is another approach," a new voice said, and both Jedi Masters looked up to see a third person take a seat at their table. Rahm Kota took a swig of his own cup of steaming hot Caff, wincing at the hot taste before looking at his two fellow council members.

"Good evening, Master Kota," Tholme greeted neutrally.

"Master Kota," T'ra Saa added with a soft smile.

"Master Tholme, Master T'ra Saa," Kota greeted in return.

"What is this other option?"

"That we convince Uzumaki to rebuild the Shinobi as a possible fighting force, one who could work alongside the Alliance against the Empire." The Jedi Master explained, looking into each pair of eyes of his fellows. "If we can rebuild them as a fighting force then we have another voice on the council, and we can also have another card to play against the Emperors Hands and his private army of force sensitives."

"The idea is... intriguing." Tholme allowed.

"But also potentially dangerous." T'ra Saa interjected, looking at each man in turn. "You've read the reports haven't you. The Shinobi were mercenaries, bounty hunters for hire... think Mandalorians with the ability to wield the elements and vanish in the shadows, the perfect assassins. Do we really want to unleash that upon the galaxy? Some of the things these Shinobi of old could do would make even the ancient Sith quake in their boots."

"Naruto did say that if he ever rebuilt the Shinobi he would do so under a different code of laws and ethics," Tholme countered thoughtfully. "He would follow something more along the Jedi way. That is what he told me."

"He's an idealist," T'ra Saa sighed as she massaged her temple. "The Shinobi way of life was through the life of the mercenary, the gun for hire, the private army and the assassin. One cannot go through their training and not see that. Give them a few generations, and once Naruto is gone they will degrade into what they once were, they would fracture into dozens of villages and a third faction would rise in the age old conflict between the Jedi and the Sith. Wars between us are bad enough, do we really want to add a third party into the fray?"

That certainly got the other two Jedi Masters thinking. They had all read the report Naruto had given them, and he had left absolutely nothing out, a full range of scrolls and artefacts on his people and their history. They were mercenaries, assassins for hire, even when they came together to create their Hidden Villages that basic truth didn't go away. It became a natural way of life, and the idea terrified many Jedi. The Shinobi had done many good things on their home world, dictators and tyrants typically didn't last long under their watch and there was indeed peace once they settled down and borders were drawn, yet their dark ancestry remained. You're opinions Master Kota, while seemingly necessary now, may backfire badly in the future, once this conflict has ended."

Both human Jedi Masters were deep in thought, taking in the wisdom of the age old Neti sitting across from them.

"I like Naruto," T'ra Saa allowed at last, sighing as she seemed to sag into her chair. "I adore him. What he has done for us, as well as what he has done for Aayla, is immeasurable. He gave us hope in our darkest hour, managed to rally us to a common goal, even potentially ally with old enemies to accomplish this, but looking at his peoples history, what they did... if we rebuild the Shinobi as a viable fighting force it may help us in both the short and long runs, but there is every possibility they will become what they're ancestors were, and that could be potentially deadly for this galaxy."

"So you believe the Shinobi should remain buried in history?" Kota asked.

"I do," she replied with a thoughtful frown. "Unless we can find a way to integrate a new Shinobi order into a greater picture, alongside the Jedi as peacekeepers and protectors and not allow them to become independent entities then maybe... just maybe."

"It could work?" Kota asked before leaning back and sighing. "Force preserve me I need a stiff drink."

* * *

Aayla cried out in complete rapture as she collapsed on top of the bed, chest heaving back and forth as she took in huge gulps of air. Naruto was above her, looking down at her and marvelling how beautiful she was when in an afterglow, sweat glistening from his own brow as he sucked in and out deep breathes before collapsing beside her. The soft colouring of her cheeks, her slick skin, glazed over dark eyes, the hissing of breathe from a slightly open mouth, deep dark blue lips parting just enough to show her white teeth.

She was perfect. It had only been a couple of days since they had seen each other, but the moment their eyes met he had a sudden urge, like he had not seen her in months let alone a couple of days. He had wanted to ravage her, to rip her clothes off and do so many kinky sexual things to her that it would have her crying out in ecstasy, convulsing in pleasure, unable to even leave the bed she would be so exhausted.

He would say his mission there was a success.

"You know," he managed through sharp breathes. "If this is the result of us... being apart... I think I'll try a whole week next time."

She managed a giggle between heaving breathes. "Not... on you're... life!"

"You got to admit... that the sex is worth the wait." Naruto managed, finally getting some control over his heaving chest.

"Undoubtedly," she managed; amazed that she was able to say a word in such a state. Their first time in the _Will of Fire _had been so untested, so unsure, so scared of them hurting each other, with Naruto not being with a woman in years and Aayla having no experience in sex, period.

With that early indecision out of the way they began to properly experiment. Naruto's stamina was out of this world, but she was able to keep up, if just barely. Aayla had felt and learned things that if you asked her two years ago if she would do it she would look at the questioner like he had a few screws loose.

Aayla turned, snuggling up to her lover and burying her head into the crook of his neck, taking in the mixture of their scents and humming in contentment. Naruto's only response was to trace his finger up and down her lekku, smiling as Aayla shivered at the touch before giving him a half-hearted glare, which melted away pretty quick.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, placing a kiss against her forehead, getting a hum of contentment in response from his love. It had only been three days, yet it had felt like a lifetime. He hadn't felt like that since before the Akatsuki attack on Konoha, and this was something he would never give up.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Take me with you next time you get an urge to be a hero," Aayla mumbled.

* * *

"You got it."

In the depths of the Imperial Palace, new stage of the Galactic Empire, in one of the deepest chambers of the great fortresses depths the most powerful man in the galaxy inspected the latest results of his machinations. The throne he sat on, high backed and made of black ebony, was cool to the touch, sitting on the top of a flat surface surrounded by a hexagon of steps.

Two red robed Imperial guardsmen flanked his left and right, long poles of force pikes held stiffly in their right hands as they stood to attention, the folds of their long crimson cloaks hiding their armour and their utility belts, lightsaber hilts clipped to them. Across the chamber, at every exit were another two red robed forms, twelve in total. His Imperial Guard, his defenders and protectors, symbols of his status and power.

The Emperor eyed each man for a long moment before bringing his attention down to the single figure knelling at the foot of the steps, dressed in black carapace armour with an encompassing black cloak draped around his shoulders. His messy black hair hid his features as he bowed but the old man could see his onyx eyes watching him intently.

He was a potentially dangerous man, Palpatine knew this, dangerous enough to be kept very close. The warriors he had trained proved to be some of the most elite and skilled in the galaxy, assassins and bodyguards as cunning as his own Imperial Hands, as skilled as his Imperial Guards and as silent and deadly as anything he had ever seen bar the likes of the Anzati Assassins.

"You're troops are ready?" Palpatine asked, voice raspy.

"Yes, my Emperor." The man knelt before him replied.

"Good, it is time to put them to the test." Palpatine rasped as he looked down at perhaps one of his most powerful and deadly pawns bar Darth Vader himself. He pressed a rune on his ebony throne and watched as a bright flash heralded the activation of a hologram between him and his servant, a list of names scrolling before the black haired assassins eyes. "This is a list of names of those considered detrimental to the wellbeing of the Empire. They're status and power in their respective systems means that we cannot deal with them publicly so we must turn to other methods."

Sasuke Uchiha said nothing, not even focusing on the list of names, knowing that they would be presented to him later. He eyed his present master instead, onyx eyes watching and waiting. "You wish them removed, I take it?"

"That is correct," Palpatine replied simply. "The method with which you and your entourage choose to remove them is up to you, however it needs to be done quietly and with no evidence that we were involved."

"I understand, my Emperor." Sasuke nodded his head as he rose to his feet. "It will be done."

"This is what your unit was created for. Do not hesitate or show mercy," Palpatine said, his ancient voice echoing through the confines of the room as his newest pawn turned on his heel and stalked from the chamber, long black cloak billowing like a wrathful shadow as he walked.

The huge blast doors opened as the assassin approached and wordlessly he stepped through them, hearing them close behind him before he spoke. "Let's go."

His two bodyguards immediately flanked him as he walked down the long corridor, both wearing similar light black armour to his own, except these had crimson trim with black fatigues underneath and no cloaks. At their utility belts was a holstered blaster pistol, a long knife and a small number of storage scrolls placed in satchels, tied to their right leg was another satchel, reminiscent of his hazy memories from before with an assortment of light tools from kunai and shuriken to ninja wire and paper bombs.

These two were some of the best and brightest of his students, twin sisters who had foresworn their birth names and taken up the names he had given them, Ayumi and Amaya. The twins were almost exactly identical, same rough height, lithe body type, pale features and shoulder length raven hair, the only differences were their eyes, Ayumi had piercing green eyes while Amaya had deep chocolate brown.

The twins said nothing, faces cast in stone as they escorted their commander through the great halls of the Imperial palace to the landing pad of their shuttle, located in the lower open aired pads of the monstrous fortress instead of the higher, more populated docks. The blast doors opened and a gust of cool air blasted against their exposed faces, but the three paid the drop in temperature no mind as they ascended the steps towards the landing pad, the folded wings of their transport, a new _Lambda-class _Shuttle, coming into view.

At the lowered landing ramp stood two black armoured Stormtroopers, not members of their unit, but still troops handpicked by Sasuke to act as his fist if the quiet dagger was impractical or unnecessary, the two elite soldiers came to rigid attention as he and his two bodyguards passed them, blaster pistols held firmly against their chests, waiting until their three passengers disappeared into the shuttle before ascending themselves, closing the rampway behind them.

Sasuke sat on one of the seats and strapped himself in, feeling the engines of their transport hum to life as Ayumi and Amaya followed his movements. The three were silent until the shuttle was in the air before relaxing.

"That old man unnerves me." Amaya muttered as she cracked her shoulder muscles.

"Mm," Ayumi agreed, drawing a kunai knife and spinning it around slender fingers. "I never noticed it until now, but his aura is an air of malice."

"You are finally learning," Sasuke muttered as he leaned back against his crash webbing and closed his eyes, feeling the shuttle shake as it entered the upper atmosphere. Ever since he had first met that man he had felt such an air of cruelty and malice under the grandfatherly visage, one which he knew he had felt before but could not place. "You were given the list, were you not?"

"Yes, my Lord." Ayumi nodded before reaching into her satchel and taking out a small chip, one which would fit very snugly into a holopad. "Orders were basic, memorise the list of names, no copies, keep it in top security systems, destroy it once mission is accomplished."

"Complete deniability," Sasuke nodded, reaching out with his black gauntleted hand to grasp the small chip and look at it. "Once we return gather the unit, we will be briefing them on this list of names."

"Did you read them, sir?"

"No, but I still know the names." Sasuke replied absently, "Every individual who poses a threat to the Empire, every military, political, diplomatic and rebel opposition figure. I already see who a good number of those names are."

He ignored his underlings inquisitive gazes and looked to the cockpit of his shuttle, mind engulfed in another target. The man he had faced in the abandoned mines of Kessel some months ago, a man who knew his name and was the same as him.

Naruto Uzumaki.

He would run into him soon, he knew this in his very soul.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he looked around the darkened chamber which he and Aayla had temporarily commandeered for their reunion. It was quite deep within the confines of the Star Destroyer, in one of the areas not yet in service and considered abandoned. There was a surprisingly large amount of these unused bunks and all of them were furnished with bedding.

He looked down, seeing a familiar head using his chest as a pillow, groaning every time he tried to move. Instead of waking her he was content with simply watching her sleep, how peaceful and beautiful she was, slight crinkling of her nose, relaxing of her features, and slight parting of her lips. He desperately wanted to dart in and capture them in a kiss.

Sage preserve him, he was getting soft.

He needed to get up, do his morning stretches and have breakfast. There was only one problem. Aayla moved in her sleep. She was currently draped on top of him while she had fallen asleep beside him, content in her dreams and in using him as a mattress.

He leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, smiling as she groaned and awoke from the soft touch. She looked up at him with bleary eyes and smiled back before nuzzling back onto his chest. "So it wasn't a dream, you really are back."

"Mm-hmm," Naruto hummed in agreement, placing his hands under her arms and pulling her up face to face with him, revelling in the softness of her form flush against him, her chest pressed against his almost sinfully. He sealed his mouth over hers in a kiss, which she returned, their tongues battling for dominance as he flipped her over and laid on top of her.

His hands clasped onto hers, pressing them against the mattress and keeping her in place as he mercilessly continued the battle. When they finally parted both he and she were panting continuously, but through that he raised himself just enough to see her chest rise and fall heavily, breathe exhaling and inhaling gulps of air, her cheeks coloured from the exertion.

"You're... insatiable." She managed through gulps of air. She watched him as he began to lower against her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, a glint which made her body tingle and burn in anticipation of what was promised to come.

She licked her dry lips as he closed in slowly, feeling his eyes drink her up with insatiable lust which made her quiver. She felt something hard press against her inner thigh and could feel her heart pounding in her ears. She would not deny that she did want what was promised to come.

"Narutomm," she stifled a groan as he lowered himself to her chest and placed his teeth gently around a dark blue nipple, gently pulling and squeezing her flesh. For a brief moment she forgot what she was about to say, almost lost in a haze of lust and anticipation. "Naruto... wait."

He looked up at her, blinking suddenly to try and remove what she considered a similar erotic haze. For a moment she considered telling him that it could wait, that it wasn't important, but her training as a Jedi kicked in and she admitted that it was well needed, if loathed sometimes by her more base instincts.

"Wha... what is it," Naruto asked breathlessly, similarly using his own Shinobi training in an attempt to calm his mind, as hard as that was, and listen to his lovers words. Whatever she needed to tell him had to be important to stop him now. He managed a boyish smile which made her heart flutter. "Getting tired?"

She gave him a wry look, raising herself on her elbows so that her flushed face was mere millimetres away from his own, but he could see that her eyes weren't glazed over, instead they were sharp and serious. "Not by a long shot yet. It's just that if I don't tell you what's happening now then I won't be able to remember."

He managed a wry smile, "Well then, might as well tell me. You have five minutes before I jump on you and ravage you until you're screaming."

A shiver caught her at his words. It wasn't a baseless jest he was using, but a proven promise. She forced her own perverted thoughts to the back of her mind with a furious shake of her head, clasping her eyes shut. When she opened them again she found Naruto chuckling, and blushed furiously. "Sorry about bringing work into this."

"Its fine," Naruto replied as he rolled off of her and too her side, his finger softly tracing circles and lines along the skin of her flat stomach, once again making Aayla shiver at her lovers ministrations. She sent him a half-hearted glare.

"Stop that."

Naruto smirked and raised his hands over the bed sheets. "Sorry, can't help myself."

Her half-hearted glare melted away, and she closed her eyes with a small smile at her lover's antics. "Can we get this out of the way?"

"Please."

"Alpha and Master Yoda put a plan to me during the negotiations."

"Together?"

"Separately, I don't think either of them knew the other had the same idea."

"And what was this idea about?"

"They both asked, in their own way, if we can aide them in ferrying and guarding diplomats to and from different planets." Aayla explained, finally gaining Naruto's full attention. "They're planning on trying to find help from worlds who are discontent with the Empire."

"I suppose we would have to make these kinds of moves sooner or later," Naruto sighed.

"Mm, while we are fine at the moment there is only so much we can scavenge from, especially now that you've brought in a large fleet." Aayla explained, trying to sound serious and not quite pulling it off considering the only thing keeping her modesty was the bed sheets. "For the fleet we're going to need replacement parts, as well as food, water, weapons and ammunition."

"And also potential recruits," Naruto added. "Isn't it going to be difficult though? How do we know which planets will be receptive and which will welcome us with an opposing fleet."

"We do have a list of such governments." Aayla informed. "You see, before the formation of the Empire there was a delegation of Senators in the old Republic Senate. This delegation formed an anti-imperial, pro-democratic coalition of two thousand who petitioned Palpatine to give up his special powers and step down from office once the war ended."

Naruto grimaced at that. "I take it he didn't take it well."

"Several of the more vocal members were imprisoned. Some vanished without a trace after the Empire was fully formed." Aayla nodded her head. "However there are still some who Master Yoda and the General think we can trust, like Bail Organa of Alderaan, Mon Mothma of Chandrilla, Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia, Tendou Bendon of Ithor and so on."

"Do they really think they'll be able to help, even if they are senators?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"Senators are usually very powerful and influential individuals, sometimes former rulers or leaders of their home worlds. Bail Organa is considered a member of one of Alderaan's Royal Houses and Mon Mothma was an influential member of Chandrilla's government." Aayla explained. "They hold a lot of clout, and can aide us, if behind the scenes."

"So the once mighty Shinobi are now simple bodyguards," Naruto growled, though it was all a jest. He saw that Aayla didn't get his joke, seeing her fret through her dark eyes. "A joke, I was joking. We actually did much more baseless work."

"Such as?"

"Dog walking," he replied easily.

Aayla giggled at this, and then looked at him and his serious expression. "You're serious."

Naruto broke out laughing at seeing the look on her face. "Oh it gets better. Low level Genin also took on other jobs such as finding missing animals, construction work, curriers, cleaners, gardeners and so on."

He looked up at her again, seeing her shocked expression and broke out laughing again. It was difficult for Aayla to take in this information. The Shinobi, officially bodyguards, assassins and soldiers also walked dogs and pulled weeds from gardens for a living. Currently her mind was going over the information, and the same message appeared.

Does not compute

Naruto looked at her wide eyed expression for a moment, frowning, before raising his hand and waving it in front of her face a couple of times, not getting a response. "I think I broke her."

It took a few more seconds before Aayla blinked, and then blinked again; shaking her head furiously for the second time that morning, afternoon... evening... it was difficult to tell when you were living in space. Naruto looked at her as she leaned in close, frowning as she studied him. "I am not dog walking."

"I never said you would," Naruto replied with a faint smile, so even the mighty Jedi Knight before him had her limits. He reached an arm around her slender shoulders and pulled her in for a long kiss to her forehead. Aayla simply closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation.

Three days had definitely been too long in her mind. Did that make her possessive, easy to jealousy? She hoped not.

"So we're going to be protecting diplomats while they try to trump up support?" Naruto asked, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "Any ideas as to who we're going to be ferrying around?"

"Well Alpha and his clones are out, decided to leave it to the Jedi. He even tried to convince me to convince them." Aayla answered. "Yoda was of the same mind, it's mainly going to be council members, as well as a few masters and knights for protection if need be. I think he wants us to ferry either Masters Kenobi or Ti around."

"Well it's alright if we get Kenobi," Naruto said as he gently pulled Aayla on top of him.

"I heard that the two of you were getting along," Aayla replied as she nestled her head against his chest and breathed in his scent.

"He worries about you," Naruto told her. "He was really worried about you when you resigned from the order."

"I'm not surprised. He and Master Vos grew up together. They were friends, so obviously they would keep an eye on their respective apprentices. He was kind of like the big brother type." Aayla informed him. "He saved my life more than once, a brilliant Jedi and a fine man, even had a crush on him when I was a Padawan."

"Oh did you now," Naruto asked, a playful smile on his face as he once again began tracing lines along her exposed skin.

"Mm, a lot of the girls around my age did," she replied, deciding to play a devious game with her lover. "He was the strong, handsome type with a quirky and fun personality."

Naruto reversed their positions with a simple flip, and a gasp of surprise from his partner as he pressed his body against hers, a devious smile on his face. "So I'm guessing that this crush is no longer relevant?"

Aayla was about to answer with a cheeky reply but was stopped by the sudden feel of something hard pressing softly against her inner thigh, a surprised gasp followed by a squirming groan was her response to his question. "That was a little cruel of you."

Naruto shrugged, "You're five minutes are up."

Aayla's response was to bring herself up to her elbows, sultry smile in place as she placed her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss. After a long while they parted, breathless, a trail of saliva moving from the edges of her lips to just below her chin, chest once again heaving back and forth.

Naruto, also breathless, managed a quirky smile. "Want to keep talking?"

"No," she replied equally breathless, cheeks ablaze and eyes glazed over in longing and lust. "Take me."

"How can I resist that?" Naruto replied, eyes just as glazed over and lust filled. He wanted nothing more than to take her until neither of them were able to walk, and he would, and he will. He kissed her furiously, with such force that she lost her grounding and fell against the mattress. The air of the small chamber was soon filled with the grunts and cries of passion as the two lovers once again lost themselves in each other.

* * *

Boba Fett frowned as his hands glided over the keyboard, dark eyes flashing left and right as he took in the streams of information. He once again applauded Sintas, the girl was more than just a pretty face and a good hand with a blaster, but also quite the achieved hacker, managing to plant an untraceable bug inside Imperial communications, which was considered impossible to crack.

He ignored the light feminine groan behind him as he continued to read the information, frowning with each paragraph he read. He even managed to ignore the creak as his partner got out of bed and the slaps of her feet against metal decking as she made her way over to him. He even managed to ignore the warmth of her arms around his shoulders, the press of her against his back and the light hiss of breath as she kissed his neck. Sintas could get very affectionate in private.

He could see her pout when he didn't react to her ministrations and felt her pinch his cheek with enough force to leave an impression. "Owe."

"I have your attention?" she asked.

"Yes, you do." He replied, feeling her disentangle herself from him as he turned in his chair to get a look at her, marvelling once again at her lack of modesty. The girl stood before him completely naked, not a piece of clothing on her. "You are shameless."

"Look who's talking," she replied as she sat on his lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "So what's gotten you so interested?"

"Just looking up on some news on the bounty," Fett replied as he swivelled back, looking at the dim lit screen as he leaned a little into his woman. The two of them, barely eighteen and already lovers, his father always said he'd learn the tricks of the opposite sex fairly quickly.

"Ah, this Naruto guy right?" she asked as she leaned forward, giving Fett a tantalising look at her chest as she gripped the control yoke and began to read. The more she read the more her brow rose until it was almost up to her hairline. "You've got to be kidding."

"That's what I thought," Boba replied, watching her chest and receiving a flick to his ear as a result. "Owe."

"Eyes on my face, Bo," she replied sternly.

"What do you expect considering your choice of attire... as in nothing at all?" Boba replied irritably.

"Pervert." She scoffed.

"Exhibitionist," Boba countered.

"Child molester," she snapped,

"You're eighteen," Fett shouted back, before his face went pale. "You are, right?"

Her snigger was all he needed, "You're unbelievable."

"Had you there though," she said smugly. "So is this right or did you make this up?"

"It seems to be legitimate," Fett replied with a shrug, forcing his lustful teenage impulse to the side for the moment. "He crashes a party between the Confederate remnants and the Imperials-"

"Aren't the Seps supposed to be done by now," Sintas frowned.

"There are still a few flotillas and fleets moving around, although at this point they're turning to piracy and mercenary work. This was one of the last great fleets, under the command of an Admiral Swell." Fett explained. "Apparently the Empire caught him, and the fleet acted on fed information to try and get him back. The Imperials laid a trap, the Confederates ran right into it, chaos ensues, you get the rest."

Sintas nodded her head.

"So anyway, he crashes into a party between the Confederates and Imperials, manoeuvres through them in a fragile freighter without a scratch, lands on the planet, infiltrates a heavily fortified Imperial base, commandeers a captured Separatist warship, leaves the planet with thousands of freed prisoners of war, and managed to escape with just over half of the Separatist navy." Fett shook his head in wonder. "Guess what Sin, they've found you're bug and they're messing with you."

"Ha ha," Vel retaliated in mock humour.

"If this is true then this will bring up his bounty by a lot," Boba murmured, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the raven haired woman in his arms. "We can still back out."

"That's unlike you," Sintas frowned, looking right at him. "Is he really that strong?"

"He is."

"No man is invincible," Vel shook her head in reply.

"He's not invincible, but his skill and ability are insane, almost beyond human." Fett replied.

"Jabba won't let you back out, you're one of his strongest hired guns and with the threats being thrown at him he would never forgive you." Sintas said firmly. "You won't be able to work in this region of space anymore Bo, hell you'll probably end up with a bounty on your head nearly as much as this guy."

"You seem to know a lot about him."

"I grew up in the Outer-rim, and I've heard the stories," Sintas replied seriously, looking him right in the eye. "Jabba the Hutt does not take betrayal well. If you slight him you will be running for the rest of your life. Plus it will harm you're reputation as one of the strongest gun hands this side of the rim."

That was Sintas, in her own way, telling him to be careful with his choices. Boba Fett had heard similar stories about the great Jabba the Hutt, but he needed the influence of the creature to be able to work in the Outer-rim. That was what Sintas was telling him. If he wanted to remain a bounty hunter then it would be best not to go against the likes of Jabba the Hutt.

Fett sighed, "I don't want to lose you, Sin."

"Now you're insulting me and my gun," Sintas replied cheekily.

Fett leaned in and kissed her, a longing kiss, one which she returned with equal intensity. He picked her up in his arms and began walking to the bed, breaking the kiss just long enough to place her on their bed and lay on top of her.

"Why are you being so sentimental all of a sudden?" Vel asked.

Fett looked at her for a long moment, before a flirtatious smirk crossed his features, "It's just seeing you naked like this makes me very possessive."

She flicked his ear again. He flinched before growling down at her and that damn sexy little smirk.

This woman was insufferable, but he did not want to lose her, and in the heat of battle, with so many bounty hunters and government soldiers now gunning for this man's head he was afraid he just might. When a high level bounty like this came along alliances became the most fragile things, hunters would turn on each other because of greed and pride, and they would be targeted by the local law because they also wanted the bounty and the bragging rights.

Once Naruto Uzumaki was cornered it would become a very trigger happy place, and if something happened to that Jedi woman he cherished so much then it would go from a trigger happy situation to an all out massacre. Fett didn't know Naruto Uzumaki's full ability and power, not even close, but he did know that the man was nowhere near defenceless.

And seeing him when he had kidnapped his little Jedi lover, well, he didn't want to be put in that situation ever again. He would never forget the feeling when those feral azure eyes looked right at him.

He had felt like a Womprat, cornered by a Krayt Dragon.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Right the votes are in and tallied, the private messages and reviews have also been added as well as my own personal preferences. Should Celeste be added to the mix? The vote was 2/1 in favour, but the private messages and reviews were completely against it, and I was never really very enthusiastic about the idea to begin with._

_I decided no, my own beta reader even gave me a good way of doing it, but I still decided no. The reason behind it is that I have been reading fanfiction for a long time, and 90% of all good stories who suddenly become harems are destroyed because of them. There are a few good ones that show how the human mind reacts and so on, but I feel that if I do this then it will take the story from what I want, and turn it into something else entirely._

_So the harem idea is dead in the water._

_Sorry about that._

_On another note, hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter, my apology for not updating since 2012._


	39. A Matter of Honour

_**Chapter 38**_

_**A Matter of Honour**_

Naruto didn't have the time to see this before, how could he with war taking place all around him. It was only now, sitting in the co-pilots chair of a commandeered shuttle, that he could sit back and marvel at not just the size of the vessels around him but the number of them as well. So this sight before him was that of a fleet born and bred for warfare?

Through the cockpit he could see at least twelve warships of different classes and sizes, all formed into the basic formation of a convoy, bigger ships in the centre and smaller escorts and pickets in the outer layers. He thought he noticed the Confederate flagship, the _Prominence_, at the lead, but it was difficult to tell vessels of the same class at such a range.

The _Refuge_ though could be noticed just fine. The only _Venator-class _capital-ship in the formation, located about fifty kilometres behind them in the centre of the fleet. Naruto would openly admit that he didn't know all the class names of the multitude of capital-ships, escorts, fighters, bombers, interceptors and droids which were swarming around them, but he would also retort that he was learning.

To his left was the huge form of a _Providence-class _Carrier, cylindrical form bristling with armaments which were designed to blast this little ship to pieces with a single hit. Above them was the smaller but no less intimidating skeletal shape of a _Recusant–class _Light Destroyer, and Naruto could tell from the score marks on the gunmetal armoured hull that it was a vessel with more than a few skirmishes under its belt. Three Droid starfighters soared past them, performing a slight curve before vanishing behind their target.

"Is this your first time seeing so many ships?" Aayla asked wryly from the pilot's chair.

"First time seeing so many ships that aren't firing at me." Naruto replied.

Aayla shook her head, before reaching out, turning on the shuttles comm. system and turning the frequency to the escorts. "_Morning Star_, this is Coalition Shuttle Alpha-235 requesting docking permission."

"_Roger that Alpha-235, permission granted, proceed to dock three."_

"Thank you _Morning Star_, beginning docking." Aayla replied as she brought the shuttle into a shallow dive and curve, bringing it alongside the much larger Frigate. She lowered the main engine nacelles to minimum output and began gliding her in with the thrusters. The docking clamp latched onto the shuttle with a sudden thump. _"Morning Star_, we have landed."

"_Copy that Alpha-235, welcome."_

"That's my pilot." Naruto said affectionately as he undid his crash webbing.

"You expected any less." Aayla shot back playfully, undoing her own webbing and standing up with a stretch. "I can't wait to get the _Will of Fire _back, gotten too used to piloting her. Everything else I pilot just seems strange."

"That's because she's your baby." Naruto replied as he turned. Aayla was taking to wearing her Shinobi attire more frequently since the end of their training at Boz Pity, with gray pants and jacket, her deep green flak vest worn over and knee high black leather boots. On her utility belt was her lightsaber and blaster pistol, and wrapped tightly around her right leg was her weapons pouch. He couldn't help the smile as she moved with a grimace. "Having trouble?"

She looked up at him with a grimace, "Just not used to wearing so much clothing, I feel heavy."

"I don't mind you wearing the skin tight leather you know." Naruto smirked as he turned and walked a few steps down the corridor separating the cockpit from the cargo bay, "Very sexy."

"Skin tight leather isn't really Shinobi attire though," Aayla muttered under her breath as she followed him down the corridor. "So is this where I see the results of your reckless heroism?"

Naruto could hear the humour in her voice, "Yeah, more or less. But I have to warn you, a lot of these people are in bad shape."

"I know. I got word from Ahsoka." Aayla replied as Naruto gripped the latch to the docking port and pulled it. "They've already sent word for more supplies, not just medical but also foodstuffs and drinking water. A lot of those people are dehydrated and starving."

Naruto didn't reply as he walked down the short corridor between the two vessels, seeing the docking doors to the Frigate open with a mechanical whirl. Aayla didn't get offended by his silence, knowing that he knew everything she said all too well. He had suddenly asked to come over to the ship with her, that there were a few people he wanted to check up on.

"So, who are you looking for?" Aayla asked as they ducked into the cargo bay. Immediately they were given a real view at how these people were. The cargo bay was empty of crates and equipment, with rows and rows of bedding and pillow. On these makeshift mattresses were the freed slaves and POW's. A lot of them were sick. Aayla could feel it in the force as well as from the clammy atmosphere.

"I saved a little girl just before the breakout happened," Naruto explained as he walked across one of the paths between beds, nodding and returning greeting to those who sent them his way, and there were quite a few people who noticed and remembered him. "She had been with someone I believe was her mother, the slavers shot her before I could intervene, right in front of her. I need to see how she's doing."

Aayla said nothing, simply followed him towards the exit and through to the corridors. There were people even here, sitting against the walls or moving without purpose. A trio of Neimoidians dressed in dark blue battle armour moved to the side as they approached, snapping salutes to Naruto which he returned with a wave.

"Looks like you're pretty well respected," Aayla intoned as she watched the troopers pass.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, you know how it is, when you're in the middle of a life and death situation bonds tend to form."

They walked through the already opened doors and came into one of the main cargo holds, the floor covered with makeshift bedding, tables and chairs were setup in a few islands of cleared space and people were lining up as basic foodstuffs and water was being distributed. Aayla and Naruto continued to walk through the crowd to the other side. They were halfway across when people began to notice him, and immediately they were hailed with shouts, mothers with children, old men and women, the sickly and the healthy, none of them clambered up to block his path, but all of them began calling out to him in greeting and thanks.

Naruto, looking a little abashed by the sudden surge of praise, could only raise his hand and wave, calling out greetings and asking in passing to a few people if they were okay. Aayla couldn't help but smile. He may not consider himself anything special, but to her, and to these people she knew, he was.

They finally managed to make their way to the other side and through the opened double doors and once they were in a fairly quiet corridor Naruto dropped his fake smile of confidence and let out a breath, cheeks reddening slightly. Aayla walked up to him and leaned over, bringing her face close to his. "What's the matter with you, our great and glorious hero?"

"Stop it," he said in mock annoyance to her playful teasing, straightening and looking back the way he had come. "I'm just not used to being flooded with such praise, even when I proved myself in Konoha, I found myself unused to it."

Aayla reached up on her tiptoes and placed a soft, tender kiss on his cheek. Naruto looked down at her with a smile, his unease suddenly forgotten. "What was that for?"

"I was being spontaneous dummy." She shot back before taking his hand in hers and leading him down the corridor to the main turbolift. "Come on, you've got a little girl to check up on."

"Yes ma'am."

Aayla led the way down the corridor, turning a corner and colliding with something large, and furry. She stumbled back in surprise, looking up to see the towering form of a Wookiee, nearly twice her size looking down at her quizzically. Naruto turned the corner then, gripping her shoulders and acting as an anchor as she regained her balance, unnecessary, but sweet of him.

"I'm very sorry." She apologised.

The Wookiee growled in acceptance, which Aayla was thankful for. She got a better look at him, seeing that he was pretty tall even amongst his brethren, with brown fur covering his form and small dark eyes studying both her and Naruto.

"Hey, I know you from somewhere." Naruto said with a frown as he approached the Wookiee, who in turn studied him intently as he came within arm's reach. Aayla sighed, knowing that Naruto did not fear a Wookiee, even if their great size and appearance unnerved many humanoids at first glance. Naruto's face lit up after a moment of contemplation. "Yeah, I do know you. You're the one I saved on the platform."

Realisation dawned on the Wookiee's features after a short moment, and a toothy grin became known on the creature's features, it raised its paw and released a series of high pitched growls and grunts. Naruto looked at him for a moment, before folding his arms and nodding, turning to Aayla with a serious expression.

"He's talking to me, isn't he?"

Aayla blinked, "Yeah."

"I have no idea what he's saying," Naruto said with a straight face before turning back to the towering mammal with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that by the way."

The Wookiee hesitated for a moment, and then began to grunt and growl again, in a more hurried tone. Naruto listened to the tall creature until he stopped and then turned to Aayla. "You know how to speak his language?"

"In passing, yes," Aayla replied with a frown. "I'm not sure if I understand him right though."

The Wookiee seemed to frown before turning to Aayla, and emitted a series of grunts and growls.

"Please tell me you can translate." Naruto asked.

Aayla didn't answer, simply locking eyes with the towering behemoth. "You're sure?"

The seriousness of her words took Naruto aback a little, Aayla had become so serious in an instant, from the moment she heard the Wookiee all the way to the end. The giant responded with a sure and steady nod, along with a grunted affirmative.

"What is he saying?" Naruto asked.

"This is not a decision made lightly," Aayla continued speaking to the giant, folding her arms. "I understand your people's customs and traditions, but I am asking you if you are absolutely sure. There is no shame if you are uncertain, and this is a life altering decision."

The creature grunted in affirmative once more. Naruto had the urge to ask Aayla again, but stopped himself, whatever this Wookiee was saying was something important, something very important, and Aayla was adamant to make sure he meant whatever he was saying. Finally Aayla turned back to Naruto, and seeing his expression couldn't help but manage a small smile.

"He is pretty serious about this." She said at last.

"About what?"

"Well, you see, in the Wookiee culture they have a kind of tradition. If your life is saved from an event which would mean degradation or certain death, then the warriors of that civilisation swear what is called a life-debt to their saviour. It basically means that they become the protector of you, your family and your descendants for as long as they are able." Aayla explained with slight hesitation in her voice, looking at the towering creature who in turn was watching them intently. "This one has just declared that he has a life-debt to you."

Naruto blinked, and then blinked again. Aayla could swear that she saw the gears in his head turning as he digested this information. "Come again."

"This Wookiee's name is... Salorrack, do I have that right?" Aayla asked, looking up at the towering giant, who growled in affirmative. "His name is Salorrack, and he has just affirmed that he has a life-debt with you. Naruto Uzumaki, he will protect you, your children and your children's children for as long as he is able, and as long as he lives, that is his oath."

Naruto blinked again, before shaking himself from his stupor and starring at the towering giant for a long moment. "What the... hell."

* * *

"So let me see if I understand this, commander."

The air in the small office dropped by several degrees, chilling the base commander to the bone as he meet his interrogators eyes with the same steely resolve. Commander Jarvis was a former officer in the Republic Navy who managed to survive the transition to the Imperial hierarchy. He had served alongside the Jedi before Order 66, and would admit that he saw them as chauvinistic and naive.

He had never liked the Jedi, but compared to these men in black robes who had taken their place, he kind of missed them. These men, these Inquisitors, elite agents of Imperial Intelligence, had none of the respect or ability of Jedi Knights. Instead they were crude, violent, without morals or obligations and they feared no one but their masters.

This man, above all others, unnerved him. He had introduced himself as Antinnis Tremayne, a youngish man with slightly spiked blond hair, chiselled features and dark brown eyes. He wore a maroon robe, something common among mid to high level members of their department, along with silver armour and light blue underlay.

"You allowed a terrorist cell to infiltrate and cause considerable damage to the forces under your command. Not only that, but you also lost a recently captured Separatist Frigate, and allowed several thousand prisoners of war to escape alongside the perpetrators of the bombings." Inquisitor Tremayne said in a deadpan voice. "This sounds like the work of extreme negligence on your part, Commander."

"I kept a full contingent of troopers guarding the base, and a full squadron of TIE fighters holding the skies over the port. The failure to stop these attacks is down to the individual squadron commanders." Jarvis said, feeling sweat stream down his brow despite the cold atmosphere.

"Ah, I see, so you blame the tools instead of the workman." The Inquisitor replied, raising his hand into the shape of a claw.

"Now see here," the commander began, before stopping just as suddenly as he began. His hands immediately went to his throat as he felt invisible fingers grip onto him in a strangling hold. It wasn't long before his eyes began to bulge, blood rushing to his ears as he tried to speak, tried to beg but it only came out as a series of strained grunts and short gasps.

"I find your lack of etiquette offensive, Commander." The Inquisitor said, voice radiating irritation. "Under your watch you allowed these events to happen. Under your watch you allowed a small band of rebels to sneak into your base undetected, cause havoc and then leave. Do you understand the severity of such a failure?"

Jarvis tried to speak, tried to apologise, but he found such simple motions impossible, darkness was creeping on the edges of his vision as his eyes began to roll back into his head. The Inquisitor watched as the man suffered with a complete lack of interest, dark eyes boring through the suffocating form of the Commander.

"The Emperor is displeased by your actions and my master even more so. He thinks that it is time for a change in command around here. A new, more able bodied leader, if you understand." The Inquisitor continued.

"W-who... who d-d-do you s-s-s-serve?" Jarvis just barely managed through grunts and gasps.

A humourless smile fell upon deathly pale features, "Why, the Fist of the Emperor off course. Darth Vader is who I serve."

He flicked his wrist, and a harrowing crack of bone signalled the end of a life. The Dark Jedi watched with a bored expression as the corpse of the former Commander fell limply into his chair. A wave of his hand pushed the body off the chair, falling boneless to the ground, dead eyes looking up at the ceiling.

He turned to the black armoured Stormtroopers flanking him. "Fetch me the second-in-command, I think it is time we let him know of his promotion. And contact the _Usurper_, inform them that we will be arriving shortly and have her ready to leave."

The two guards nodded their heads, turned on their heels and each went to perform their specified tasks. The Inquisitor turned back to the chair, eyeing it for a moment before walking to the window overlooking the port, just in time to see an Imperial supply shuttle take off to orbit. A column of Stormtroopers marched along the tarmac on regular drill, white armour gleaming in the midmorning light.

Antinnis Tremayne knew that soon he would need to send his report to his master. Mission accomplished, now for the next assignment, the finding and apprehension of the mastermind behind an attack which made the Imperial army look like incompetent fools and allowed one of the last relics of the Clone Wars to escape.

This Naruto Uzumaki was on his list, alongside his comrades. He had already dispatched agents and activated spy networks across the Outer-Rim, recalling all of his subordinates and underlings, a small army of Acolytes was at his command and he intended to use them to find and catch his target, dead or alive, either way was acceptable to his master. He knew that he was but one faction in a larger picture, and others were already on the move.

"The Emperor must really want this man, for him to send every major organisation on his tale, the Hutts, Black Sun, Bounty Hunters Guild, Imperial Intelligence... how interesting. A small smile spread across Tremayne's lips, and his eyes glowed with a menacing yellow hue. "Let us see who wins this race."

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha had to marvel at the accomplishments of engineering every time he saw one of these creations, and he couldn't help but smile when the knowledge came that such a vessel was under his personal command. The _Reprisal _was a heavily modified _Imperial-class _Star Destroyer, a sixteen hundred meter long ship of war which was fast becoming the new backbone of the Imperial fleet.

This ship was modified to become the mobile headquarters of the Shinobi, was modified so that a portion of the original cargo bays and living quarters were transformed into torture & interrogation chambers, prison cells and training facilities. The crew and soldiers outside of his own Ninja were handpicked by him personally, by looking over their records and skills he saw people who had no love of the new administration, whose loyalty would be to him and only him, once he gained it.

He began walking before the rampway could even touch the decking, his two Shinobi flanking him as his feet made contact with the metal deck of the main hanger of the _Reprisal_, finding a column of Stormtroopers twenty long and five deep stood to attention as he walked. A man in a Lieutenants olive uniform fell into step beside him, knowing by now that this man did not stop for pleasantries.

"Assemble my agents," he said simply and with finality. The Lieutenant stopped the moment the last syllable left his lips, snapping a salute before bringing out a small handheld comlink to relay the orders. Sasuke didn't bother to tell him where they would assemble, for his agents already knew exactly where to go. "And Lieutenant, don't waste my troopers time in such a display unless I order it, understand?"

"Yes milord."

Sasuke nodded, before continuing on his way. Ayumi and Amaya continued to flank him, their eyes flashing right and left, not at ease even though they were within the confines of their masters command vessel. They distrusted the crew, as he did, it would take time to remove such mistrust amongst those under his command.

They walked through long corridors, bypassing troopers and crew who kept up proper decorum to move to the side and salute as they passed. As they continued into the bowels of the warship the crowded corridors gave way to silent hallways. They had entered the area reserved for them and those they considered worthy of entering. The only signs of life were duos of Stormtroopers guarding major chambers and rooms, the crimson and white fan of his clan engraved on the breast plate and shoulder pads of their otherwise immaculate white armour.

Finally Sasuke entered the small meeting chamber, his two Shinobi following him. Within the small meeting room, dominated by a round table with thirteen seats, were the other ten of his chosen agents, men and women with the ability to utilise chakra, chosen and trained by him personally. They were his own personal guard, loyal to him and only him, his agents, his assassins, his warriors and soldiers.

"Good of you all to come," Sasuke said with a smirk as Ayumi and Amaya took their designated seats. "We have been given our assignments, the assassination of every major dissident and reformist within the Galactic Empire which our Emperor dares to take action against."

"Sounds like fun, milord." Takumi, a slender man with raven hair and the look of a thief said with a smirk mirroring his employer. This brought chuckles from the other assassins in the room. "Most of these people are small fry, but still a good chance to stretch our muscles and test our skills."

"These men may be small fry now, but they have the ability and skill to potentially become something more dangerous than they currently are." Sasuke explained. "That is the reason why Palpatine wants them eliminated. He feels he can control those with power now, even the Senators of Alderaan and Chandrilla, but those of the future are more uncertain, and so he wants them eliminated."

"And we are his knives in the dark, eh?" Akira, a smallish man with blond hair asked.

"Yes we are. Good practise for when our cousins make their move." Ayumi spoke up with a smile.

"You all know me by now," Sasuke said simply. "You may not be supporters of the Empire, you do not trust them and rightfully so. I ask you to trust me instead, trust me and I will see you through these times."

"We trust you." Amaya nodded, gaining acknowledgement from the other eleven in the room. "You took us away from the firing squads, taught us how to fight, how to survive. We will follow you to hell and back, milord."

Sounds of acknowledgement were heard across the table from his troops, his twelve Shinobi of a restored order, those he would be able to trust in the times ahead. "Alright then, spend your time honing your skills and perfecting your methods, we are moving out now."

* * *

"I have a life-debt."

"Mm-hmm."

"A life-debt."

"Yup."

"Life-debt."

"You saying it over and over again isn't going to make it go away."

"I am aware." Naruto allowed before turning back to the huge sentient following the pair. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

The Wookiee seemed to be getting slightly annoyed at being asked that over and over again, for he gave Naruto a baleful look which brokered no argument. Naruto sighed and shrugged his shoulders as the three continued to walk. "It's just that we're the kind of people who are going to be moving, all the time, you probably won't be able to get much personal time with your family."

The Wookiee replied with a low growl.

"He says most of his family and friends are either dead or he doesn't know where they are." Aayla translated for her partner. "As far as he's concerned at the moment he is alone."

"Oh, well in that case welcome aboard."

A friendly mewl was his larger new crewmembers reply.

"There's another language I need to get the gist off." Naruto replied with a sigh before finally turning a corner and reaching the outskirts of his destination. The medical bay was where the worst traumatic cases went, both mental and physical. It was also where the few Jedi Healers aboard were positioned, with people who needed help the most.

He noticed Ahsoke straight away, dressed in a full white gown with a clipboard in her hand. The young Togruta was starting to grow. She was now taller, and was also starting to fill out from the thin stick of a teenager to a woman, even her lekku were growing, now three times longer than before, before her training on Boz Pity they barely reached her shoulders, now they reached to her lower shoulder blades and were entwined around each other like a braid.

Aayla was surprised when Ahsoka decided to learn healing Shinobi skills, during her time as a Padawan she had been more interested in things that went boom, but ever since Naruto taught her the basic healing chakra exercises she had been an apt student. When he finally asked her she said she was tired of fighting and wanted to become someone to heal wounds instead of making them.

He saw Sakura in her for a brief moment, and that memory brought a smile to his face.

Finally the youngest of his students noticed him and a grin framed her features as she walked over and hugged him. It had been a full week since she had seen him, most of her time had been taken up studying either with the Jedi Healers or peering into Naruto's mobile library of scrolls. Now here she was, determined to put those newly learned lessons to work.

"Where have you been girl," Naruto asked playfully as she parted and hugged Aayla in turn.

"Learning is where I've been, sun-boy." She replied with a tired smirk. "I've still got quite a few people to help, seems that basic diagnostic Jutsu you showed me is narrowing down a lot of problems. So what are you here for?"

"I'm looking for someone, a young girl." Naruto replied, noticing his new Wookiee friend remain where he was just outside of the sterilised ward. Aayla remained quiet and by his side, allowing him to confer. "She would be about five years old, Twi'lek, purplish skin tone."

Ahsoka thought for a brief moment, and then realisation dawned. "I know who you mean, and I think you visiting her will mean a lot."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a worried frown.

"She's in room fifteen." Ahsoka explained as she led the two of them down the long packed corridor. "Whatever happened to her was undeniably traumatic. She's been almost inconsolable, crying or just looking blankly at the walls. She's not talking, eating or sleeping. Do you know what happened to her?"

She was worried, that was undeniable. Ahsoka may have been brash and spontaneous, sometimes tomboyish and uncontrollable, but deep down she was perhaps one of the kindest and most considerate people there were, and this girls pain was felt by her through the force. Her worry was as clear to any force-sensitive as day.

"I think her mother was executed, right in front of her." Naruto replied, voice sombre at the memory.

"Yeah, that would about do it." Ahsoka nodded slowly, grabbing onto Naruto's wrist suddenly to stop him. She then gripped onto his shoulders, forcing his bright blue eyes to look into her dark ones. "Naruto I am really worried about this girl, scared for her even. In the force her emotions are becoming darker and darker and nothing I say seems to be getting through. I've been getting snippets of visions of her hurting herself, maybe even worse.

The aspiring Healer's breath was coming and going in gasps, eyes wide in fear and memory. The grip of her fingers into his skin began to tighten. She honestly didn't know what to do to save this girl and the very thought terrified her, bringing back bad memories of after she left the Jedi Order midway through the war, of suddenly being hunted before she even realised what had happened, of Rex appearing in that darkened alleyway when she was surrounded and fighting for her life, suddenly being the only person in the galaxy who was willing to save her.

"Calm down, Ahsoka." He said softly.

"If you can drag her back then please, I beg of you, do it."

This was the first time he had seen her so scared since the time he first met her, as a scared and lonely girl under the protection of her last real friend. She had once been just a hairsbreadth away from such feelings, been in a similar dark place with seemingly nowhere to go. She had Rex to keep her grounded, and this girl didn't have even that.

"I will." He promised.

Ahsoka said nothing more. She released his shoulders from her hold and led him and Aayla down the sterilised corridor towards the room where the young girl was. The doors opened the moment the Jedi/Shinobi Healer stood before them, but she did not enter, she simply looked over at him with a gaze which begged whatever higher power that he could do the same thing he had done for her, for Celeste and for Aayla; the ability to lift them from their pain, and help them stand and face the world again.

He took a deep breath.

He was beside Ahsoka, looking into a stale hospital room with just a single large bed, and sitting on that bed, knees under her chin as she looked out at nothing was the girl he had saved. Sometimes he felt heavy when in such a situation. When he was a child his ruthless belief in seeing the best of people seemed to break through to even the hardest of cases, first was Inari, then Neji, Gaara, Nagato, Konan. The list was long he would admit.

What Ahsoka had explained was right on the mark, even he, who was blind to the force felt the darkness creeping into her soul, her sense of loss and something which was far worse than any, the sudden weight of helplessness, of a loss of faith in everything, in ending it all. Naruto didn't need the force, for he could see it all in her eyes, orbs as bottomless as the blackest deepest pit.

The suffering in this girl was so plain to see.

He stepped into the room, hearing the door slid shut behind him but continuing on regardless. He was standing in front of her and there was nothing in her eyes which told him she knew he was there. He knelt on a knee, bringing him down to her height and slowly, carefully wrapped his huge hands around her tiny, frail ones, bringing them up in his grasp and forcing her to look at him.

"Hello there," he greeted softly, flashing a small smile. "Do you remember me?"

A tiny spark flashed in her eyes as they took in his features. The child nodded slowly but said nothing else. Naruto knew there was no chance she was going to start the conversation, so encroached in her shell, he needed to get her attention. This sorrow wasn't as open as Aayla's, or as raw as Celeste's or even as sudden as Ahsoka's. This sorrow was being tightly wrapped in a bun by the one who had to carry it, one who didn't know what to do with it.

"What's your name?" he asked.

No answer.

"Come on kiddo, everyone has a name." He goaded softly.

Still no answer.

"If you don't tell me your name I'll have to make one up for you." He said with a playful voice.

Another spark, a slight scrunching of her features in annoyance. It was a start. Her voice was small and raspy from lack of sleep and food. "It's Rachi."

"Rachi," Naruto repeated with a small smile. She was talking to him, a good sign. "No way, that was entirely the name I was going to make up for you."

A slight quirking of dried lips, "Who... who are you?"

"Sorry, I should have introduced myself sooner." He smiled. "My name is Naruto, and it's great to meet you Rachi."

"Sitra."

"Hmm?"

"My full name is Rachi Sitra." She muttered.

"Rachi... Sitra," Naruto repeated before flashing a grin. "What a beautiful name. My full name is Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

_**Sex, Corruption and Language Lessons**_

"How are you doing in Huttese anyway?"

"I can curse, say hello and put a few sentences together about someone else's mother." Naruto replied sheepishly. "That's about it. Rex is trying to teach me when we get a moment, but I think the end result of our sessions is just him pulling at his hair."

"Well at least he didn't try to castrate you like Celeste did."

"I kind of deserved that though, calling her a piece of bantha excrement when I was supposed to be just saying hello." Naruto replied with a dry gulp.

She might have forgiven him if it was in the middle of a lesson but not when he met her in a random corridor. Celeste wouldn't speak to him for three days, and he still swore he felt the bump on the top of his head. He needed Aayla's help to smooth things over, amazing what three friends and a few bottles of Corellian brandy could accomplish. The three of them decided at some point during the night to continue his lessons, trying to speak to each other in slurred Huttese, it was actually kind of fun.

He was corrupting them, Naruto realised in passing, that was actually the first night either of them had anything alcoholic to drink and he was the one who brought it. If he had known that he would have started them off on something basic like ale or beer and not full on spirits like brandy, especially _Corellian_. He and Rex consider themselves to be pretty resilient drinkers and that stuff was enough to get _them_ wasted.

Aayla snapping her fingers in front of his nose brought him back to reality, and he looked down at his girlfriend apologetically, only to be met with a frown and a raised brow. "What were you thinking about?"

"I seem to learn better in language lessons when there's alcohol involved." Naruto said with a cheeky smile, noticing the gears turning in her head before a slight flash of colour dotted her cheeks. "Good times, good times."

"Forget everything you remember that night."

"No matter how many times you bonk me on the head I will not forget." Naruto now had a devilish grin. "I even have pictures. Thinking of selling a few to Rex, and for shots of the two hottest women of this group in each other's arms I think I will make a tidy profit from it."

In their defence, they were asleep and in his drunken state he may have manoeuvred a few appendages into position. The prankster in him awoke in full force that night.

"Delete those images, now." He never saw Aayla this flustered before, her cheeks were now several shades darker and there was something sadistic in her eyes as she grabbed fistfuls of his jacket.

"Or what?" Naruto replied, absently hearing his common-sense slamming his inner prankster's head repeatedly on a tabletop.

"I'll stop the sex."

Naruto laughed lightly at that, only to notice that he got no response from his partner. He studied her for a few moments, face going pale in abject horror. "You wouldn't."

Now it was Aayla's turn to flaunt her borderline evil expressions, in her case a sexy, demure smirk. "Do you really want to find out?"

Naruto's only response was a furious shake of the head.

"I thought so." Aayla replied.

In truth she was bluffing, force preserve her she was bluffing, probably had a tolerance level of a week before she would crack and jump him. He had corrupted her, Aayla realised in passing, but she just didn't care.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I know it's been a long time since I updated and I apologise for that. Work has been getting to me over the last few months and the inspiration in me just seemed to die, damn that bloody muse of mine he's been taunting me all the times when I really needed him. I needed some inspiration and it came with the release of the new 30 Seconds to Mars album, god I love that band. It's just one of those bands that I can listen to all the way through; favourite songs are Conquistador, Up in the Air and City of Angels. Damn those are some brilliant songs. I'm listening to it right now as I type._

_I'm hoping to be getting back into some kind of pattern with my writing again, hopefully keep going with this and The Wanderer as my current stories, I've got the next chapter on that one half done to anyone who reads that as well. I also have this crazy dimensional travel story going through my mind that I need to get onto paper, been reading a lot of those recently, give Echoes by Kagaseo a read, it's pretty interesting, and Naruto Genkyouien by Daneel Rush, best Naruto story on fanfiction at the moment in my opinion._

_(Spoiler warning for the manga, don't read if you haven't been keeping up) The newest chapters of Naruto are getting a little fan-servicy... I admit I loved the idea of the former Hokage coming back to life to kick ass. I kind of began laughing a little maniacally at that. We also saw Sasuke returning to Konoha's side for a while now, the argument can be made that he was on the alliances side ever since he and Itachi teamed up against Kabuto, but him just appearing there after the former Hokage and proclaiming he will be Hokage and change the village... I'm a little torn on him coming back, I saw it coming mind, but I'm a little torn. _

_Also... for the love of god Kishimoto would you make up your damn mind, who will Naruto's romantic interests be with, Sakura or Hinata. You seem to be hinting at one then just moving onto the other. Me personally I'm a NaruHina but I've nothing against Sakura, because she has grown up, it can be argued she is Naruto's best friend at the moment and I like her character a lot better now than I did when I started reading the manga but I still like Hinata more._

_Anyway rant over._

_Peace out._

_Darth Malleus_


	40. Hunters & Bounties

_**Chapter 39**_

_**Hunters & Bounties**_

"So, we are in agreement?" Obi-wan asked, clasping his hands together on the flat surface of the table, watching the man across from him with a calculating gaze.

The man seated opposite him skimmed through his datapad for the umpteenth time, free hand stroking his goatee before setting the device to the side and nodding his head. "Everything seems to be in order, so yes Master Kenobi I would say we are in agreement."

Obi-wan allowed a guarded smile as he rose from his seat and offered his hand. "Excellent news, we look forward to working with you and your people."

The man hesitated for a brief moment before reaching out and clasping the Jedi Masters hand in his own, a silent sealing of the deal alongside the words. Naruto watched the whole exchange from near the exit, keeping an eye on the two armed men who had accompanied the representative to the meeting point.

It had been six months since they had started moving around the galaxy looking for allies and the results were mixed on whether they were being successful or not. He and his crew had been travelling across the galaxy with Obi-wan in toe, looking for potential allies for their fight against the empire.

They had gained silent support from several worlds including Chandrilla and Alderaan, but nothing official or public. Naruto didn't blame them. One only needed to look at Naboo to see how hard the Empire can come down on any worlds who stepped out of line.

Still they were making gains. Dozens of worlds had silently pledged their support from across the galaxy, granting supplies, equipment, weapons and even volunteers but it was a trickle, those willing to help making sure that the Imperials didn't notice the fact that equipment and people were vanishing en mass.

This latest agreement was not even with a planetary government, but with an organisation whose routes were not considered legal. The Smugglers Union was once a major enterprise, able to smuggle anything or anyone from the deepest recesses of the Core to the furthest edges of the Outer-rim but since the declaration of the New Order the Imperials had been clamping down on smuggling, hard.

"We will aide you in your fight against the Empire, and hopefully get a little payback along the way." The man had not given his full name, calling himself simply Wash. "The Empire has hit us pretty hard. Lost most of our enterprises from the Core worlds to the Mid-rim and there's talk of them clamping down in the colonies as well. Soon we'll only be able to operate in the Outer-rim territories and you know how the likes of the Hutt's and the Corporate Sector Authority can be, might as well go respectable."

Naruto can say one thing about the Empire, they could be pretty law abiding when they wanted to be. Since the declaration of the New Order crime had gone down because of more powers being given to the justice and local law enforcement, plus the slow creeping of a Stormtrooper garrison on every major planet didn't hurt matters. It was slowly getting more and more difficult for people like Wash to get through the cracks. The Outer-rim was a different matter, if anything it had become more lawless since the reformation, the Hutts and local crime lords were becoming more active, turf wars between the local criminals and those fleeing Imperial clampdowns were commonplace, smugglers and bounty hunters were rampant and people were scared out of their wits.

The Outer-rim territories were becoming real bandit country, the Wild West, with no central authority and very few worlds where the local government was willing to stand up to the likes of the Hutt's. They were standing on the surface of one of a handful of places left in the Outer-rim where the crime lords feared the tread. The ecumenopolis of Taris, a vast city planet of towering skyscrapers and numerous levels, one of the most powerful worlds in the Outer-rim, its naval power was nothing to sneeze at and neither was its military.

Obi-wan placed a hand on his shoulder, shocking Naruto out of his reverie. "It's time to go."

"About time," Naruto whispered as he followed close behind the Jedi Master.

"You were daydreaming."

"I was bored." Naruto shrugged. "Standing still isn't my thing."

"I noticed." Obi-wan replied dryly.

Naruto threw his charge a half glare before huffing. "I take it the talks went well?"

"We have the support of the smugglers union, yes."

"Good, it took them long enough to agree to anything." Naruto murmured as they left the back room and entered the cantina; music blared as a band played. The smell of alcohol and sweat was rife in the air as hundreds of people from several different races danced and drank. Naruto and Obi-wan paid the atmosphere no mind, making their way through the mass of bodies and exiting through the front.

The stuffy atmosphere gave way to the cool night air and dim lights, and the Shinobi took a deep beath of relief. "Good to be out of there."

"You don't like cantinas?" Obi-wan asked.

"It depends on the cantina," Naruto replied. "I hate nightclubs, music so loud your ears ring. Give me a quiet bar any day, able to have a drink and talk with a friend without shouting."

"Oh I agree my friend."

"Anyway, let's get back to the ship and get out of here. Where are we going next?"

"Naboo should be our next port of call. The people have always been sympathetic to the Jedi so we should be able to get some support."

"Aren't they in the middle of an Imperial crackdown?" Naruto asked. "Not exactly the best place to go."

"It's the last place they'll expect us to go, with your henge we should be able to get in and out without any hassle." Obi-wan returned. "Plus I know the current queen in passing."

"You mean the one the Empire placed on the throne?" Naruto asked with a frown. "What makes you think she won't turn us over the moment we hit planet side?"

"She's not an Imperial, more of a pacifist." Obi-wan replied. "We might be able to get some equipment and volunteers from the planet even if she declines."

"You're the envoy," the Shinobi allowed, obviously not liking it as he raised his hands in defeat. "I'm just not sure about taking an eight year old Apprentice to Imperial Central."

"Why didn't you leave her on the Frigate with Ahsoka?"

"Didn't you hear? She and Aayla are inseparable." Naruto shrugged. "The second she saw Rachi she nearly screamed and asked if we could keep her."

"I don't see her doing that," the Jedi Master gave Naruto a look.

"Well... she didn't _scream _exactly, and instead of 'Can we keep her' it's more along the lines of 'She needs a constant for a while' kind of thing." The blonde shoved his hands in his pockets, sulking a little even as something behind him caught his eye. "That doesn't change the fact that she follows Aayla around like a cute little puppy."

"Cute little puppy?" Obi-wan raised his brow at that, thinking.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting... you see a puppy is a baby of another animal back home called a dog. It's a domesticated-"

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"I know what a dog is."

"Ah."

"Let's head back to the ship, shall we?" Obi-wan asked with a sigh.

"Well, before we head back to the ship we should at least ditch our tales." Naruto muttered.

Obi-wan followed his gaze discreetly, and found two figures, garbed in black robes, following them. At first the Jedi Master thought Naruto was mistaken, but as the two of them turned into a side alley and found that they were still being followed he was soon glad that Naruto was with him. The two men continued to walk, eventually coming to a dead end before turning around to face their pursuers.

"You got our attention," Naruto stated with a feral smirk as Obi-wan pulled back his own black cloak, revealing the lightsaber clipped to his utility belt. "The only question left is how messy this needs to be."

Their pursuer's response was to reach into the folds of their cloaks and extract lightsaber hilts, activating them with a _snap-hiss_, crimson light flooding into the darkened side alley. Naruto whistled, drawing a kunai from his wrist launcher as Obi-wan drew and ignited his own weapon, azure light adding to the crimson hue.

"I'm guessing quite messy then."

He didn't wait for them to make the first move. Naruto threw his kunai, watching as his target brought up his lightsaber to block. He was already moving though, closing the distance, another kunai sliding into his outstretched hand. Obi-wan was right beside him, targeting the other Dark Jedi and swinging his lightsaber, both weapons meeting in a hail of sparks and a continuous crackle.

A kunai was no match for a lightsaber, Naruto knew this before he made the charge. As his opponent brought his blade forward for a stab he pivoted on his right foot, spinning around the blade, feeling the heat as it singed his clothes. The Shinobi regained his balance with the next step, stabbing out with his kunai for the Dark Jedi's neck. He wasn't surprised that his opponent was able to sidestep the strike, wasn't surprised when the lightsaber came around in a quick, devastating horizontal slash which cut right through his waist, for he was no longer there.

He vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced by a now cut in half length of piping he saw behind a trash compactor. The surprise in his opponents amber orbs was a fleeting image to Naruto as he made the switch, and reappeared on top of the compactor, hands finishing up the seals for his Jutsu, Fūton: Shinkūgyoku. He took a breath and released several bullets of air from his mouth, each one finding their mark with ruthless efficiency. The Dark Jedi didn't know what hit him, and fell to the ground with several holes running through his chest.

By the time Naruto landed on solid ground Obi-wan had finished off his own opponent, deflecting a strike and driving his azure blade through his opponent's heart. He deactivated his weapon and promptly hid it before his enemy's lifeless body hit the ground. The two of them exchanged a quick look before they began walking again, leaving the side alley and the bodies behind.

"Who were they?" Naruto asked lowly as they exiting into the busy main street.

"Dark Jedi, by their attire I would say Inquisition." Obi-wan replied.

"Not much of a challenge."

"Agreed, most likely some green recruits."

"Which means their overseer is still out there."

Obi-wan's nod was all Naruto needed.

"Do they usually travel in packs?"

"Yes, with a lot of backup."

"It's time to leave."

"Mm," Obi-wan hummed in agreement.

* * *

There was no trouble waiting for them at the port, or on the landing pad reserved for their ship. When Naruto and Obi-wan arrived they found Rex and Celeste lying back and relaxing on deck chairs, and Aayla was just leaving the confines of the _Will of Fire_, reading something on a datapad.

"Time to go," Naruto said hurriedly as they approached, watching as Rex and Celeste nodded before rising from their seats.

"What's the matter?" the former Commando asked.

"We were ambushed by a couple of Inquisition agents." Obi-wan replied.

"You guys look alright."

"You should see the other guys." Naruto quipped in reply as they passed by the two and up the rampway into the confines of his ship. "Get the gear packed and loaded, we're leaving this rock. Where are those two guys that came with Kenobi?"

"In the ship boss," Rex shouted back.

"Good, move it or lose it people!"

"What's our next port of call?" Celeste asked.

"Naboo!" Naruto shot back.

"Are you serious!?" Rex shouted.

"You're joking right?" Celeste added, even she had heard what had happened on Naboo.

"Wish I was!"

"Ah shit on a stick." Celeste muttered.

"Not very ladylike," Rex quipped.

"Bite me," she snapped before stomping up the rampway towards an inevitable confrontation with the boss.

Rex sighed under his breath as he followed, idly picking up the deckchairs as he went, "Women."

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to."

* * *

Theed, Naruto had to admit, was a beautiful city, a picturesque creation of unified and harmonious sandstone buildings, eloquent spires, wide paved city streets and winding pathways surrounded by gardens. In almost every opening was something which donated to the arts which the planet was famous for, from tall, well crafted monuments of philosophers and former rulers to museums, art galleries, and concert halls.

It was said that the planet was considered the most cultured and harmonious outside of the Core-worlds and the Shinobi had to admit that he felt calm about the place, an ambiance of peace and tranquillity. It was relaxing, sitting with his friends in the outer courtyards of a cafe, sipping exotic fruit juices and savouring the taste of the food on their plates. They simply watched as the world passed by them, people and vehicles moving to their destinations, the friendly hustle and bustle of a peaceful planet.

The place almost seemed like paradise.

Almost

The Imperial soldiers stood out like a sore thumb, black uniformed officers and white armoured Stormtroopers could be spotted here and there, never alone, usually in pairs, or threes or even fours. The planet was currently under imperial occupation because of a failed rebellion which took place a few months before the conclave. The Queen of the time had given refuge to a handful of Jedi. The Empire found out, Stormtroopers came, chaos ensued. The end result was that the Jedi were massacred, the planets defence forces disbanded, the Queen had been killed and several of her confidants imprisoned.

The after effects were that a puppet was made ruler of Naboo, a garrison of Stormtroopers were now keeping order, a curfew was imposed and those who wished to leave or enter Naboo needed a permit. How Obi-wan had gotten such a thing Naruto did not know, but he was grateful for the Jedi Masters insight, or his ship would currently be entering the atmosphere in pieces.

"There's another three." Rex whispered, his very posture radiating a relaxed calm Naruto knew he didn't feel. He wore a simple tunic and pants, black hair done back in a ponytail and contact lenses changing his eye colour from dark to amber, a grey cloak was draped on his chair as he took a sip of his drink.

"They are out in force aren't they?" Celeste agreed as she used her knife and fork to cut a slice of chocolate gateau and bring it up to her mouth, biting into the confectionary and humming in delight. She had used her transformation to change her appearance to that of a girl with pale skin and shoulder length red hair, a pair of emerald eyes darting back and forth as she watched her surroundings.

"That's a platoon in this block alone, twenty troopers, and at least three officers. They really are keen to make their presence known." Naruto muttered. "Not that I blame them. Its basic tactics when dealing with a subjugated population, show that you're here in numbers and you mean business."

He was pretty glad he hadn't brought Sal along and kept him guarding the ship, as much fun it would be to bring his newest crewman along he knew that in a planet where the population was mostly human the towering Wookiee would stand out like a sore thumb, bring unwanted attention. The same could be said for Aayla, though it wasn't the local population he was worried about, native Naboo were known to be friendly and curious, it was the Imperials in the crowd he worried about.

"It's been almost three hours."

"I know."

"You think they got into trouble."

"I doubt it, we'd be seeing a lot more Imps running around, maybe a few explosions." Naruto replied with a shake of his head. "The two Knights he brought with him may be a little green, but I think our charge will be able to keep them in check."

Apparently the council decided that each representative needed a few Knight Bodyguards as well as the crew of the ships they convinced to aide them. It was fairly lucky that the Jedi seemed to know a lot of trustworthy smugglers. He had heard from Schurk and the crew of the _Uhumele _that Shaak Ti had also brought her own guards, even though it was obvious she didn't want too.

It was made mandatory by Yoda, something Naruto himself had mentioned in passing to the millennia old Jedi Master. No Jedi was to travel alone, not even Masters. The two boys assigned to watch Obi-wan's back weren't of a bad sort though, both were young and recently knighted, eager to prove themselves. "Here they come."

Rex's voice stirred Naruto from his thoughts, looking up to see the three Jedi approach, spread out through the street, wearing Naboo styled clothes, just a few extra faces in the crowd. The two Knights took seats on a table behind them as Obi-wan sat down on theirs, and by the expression on his face he wasn't bringing very good news.

"She refused, I take it."

Obi-wan nodded.

"What did you expect, the Empire made her Queen." Rex muttered.

"The Queen understands our plight, but she will not risk the safety of her people, not after what happened." Obi-wan answered with a shrug. "She'll allow us to leave in peace and won't tell the Imperials we were here."

"That's nice of her."

"Well considering the entire population is under lockdown by the Empire I can't really say I'm surprised." Celeste countered. "Their security forces, starfighter corps, even the local law enforcement has been disbanded. She really has nothing to help us with."

"We better move on to the next one." Naruto sighed, ignoring Rex's sarcasm as he finished his fruit drink and stood up, depositing some credits on the table. "What's the next port of call?"

"Cathar will be the next course," Obi-wan explained as they began to walk. "The Senator was a founding member of the Delegation, so we can expect assistance from there."

"Good," Naruto nodded before reaching into his pocket for his comlink. "Better call Aayla and let her know it's time to go."

"Where is she anyway?"

"With Rachi on the main street, little kid saw something she liked in a shop window so Aayla decided to take her around." The blond replied as he began tapping runes on his comlink, bringing up his partners frequency.

"You sent the two of them alone?" the Jedi frowned.

"Aayla's using her Henge, and Rachi's not on any wanted posters so they'll be fine." Naruto shrugged.

"I hope your right."

"Off course I'm right." He turned back to his charge. "You and your friends there get back to the _Will of Fire _with Celeste, me and Rex will pick up those two and join you. Have our clearance to take off ready for when we arrive."

"Very well," Obi-wan nodded.

* * *

The wind in the towers was milder than that on the ground, strong enough to make his longcoat flail slightly as he peered through a pair of electro-goggles at his targets far below, crimson eyes narrowed as he found his targets allies. Obi-wan Kenobi was easy to spot, with their past dealings, and the wanted posters identified Naruto Uzumaki, the two Jedi, the clone and the woman with black hair took a moment longer to find.

He knew where the Jedi woman was, shopping with a little girl a few streets over. He was told to look out for not just her usual appearance, which was that of a Twi'lek of the Rutian variety, but also the appearance of a Lethan Twi'lek, a red skin with black tattoos. With that knowledge he was able to find her quite easily.

"Hmm, a good number of them," Cad Bane allowed a thin smile to spread across his leathery features. Bringing up his hat and placing it on his head he rose to his feet and turned around, entering the alcove of the towering spire he was using for his bird's eye view.

The information was accurate, a young upstart the Prince of Black Sun may be but his governing of the organisation and his own private cadre of spy rings were impressive. His cheques didn't bounce either; important when gaining the services of someone like him.

He entered the small catacomb, crimson eyes gazing left then right to take in the faces of the half dozen heavily armed men. Another thing about the Black Sun organisation was that they never seemed to have a shortage of skilled gun-hands for a big job.

Among the group of hunters he now found himself a part of was a Mandalorian, wearing the scrapped and chipped armour of a Death Watchmen, an Anzati assassin smoking on a long pipe, a burly Cathar and a pair of feral looking Zabrak twins who seemed to be armed with every type of blade imaginable.

"Move it." He said simply, and they were gone.

* * *

Naruto watched the scene before him with a raised brow and a surprised, yet satisfied smile. He walked across the small store floor towards the person at the centre of quite a few people's attention. It wasn't Rachi, who was sitting on a chair to the side, legs swinging back and forth and a wide grin on her face.

It was Aayla, who was currently looking very embarrassed, dressed in a beautiful white dress with golden embroidering around the neck, a backless white dress which also left her arms bear, slits ran down the sides of the silk gown, allowing him to get a tantalizing view of her legs. How this turn of events happened he did not know but he considered it his little miracle this afternoon.

"Now how did this happen?" Naruto asked as he approached, seeing her cheeks get even darker with the realisation that he could also see her.

"It's just as I thought," the ship assistant, an attractive girl with deep chestnut hair and a mischievous smile gushed. "That dress is perfect for you."

"Um," Aayla uttered, as if trying to form words but unable too, either from embarrassment or mortification he was unsure. She obviously very rarely had to wear anything quite as grand as the gown she currently wore.

"I couldn't agree more." His agreement made her head snap to the side, sending him a quiet glare which was met with a toothy grin. He then turned his attention to the little girl, who was jumping down from the chair and moved over to him, gripping onto his trouser leg. "You had something to do with this I take it."

She nodded.

"For such a young thing she does have an eye," the assistant beamed. "She got my attention, pointed at the dress then her big sister here, and I just had to get her into it."

Naruto grinned as he picked up Rachi and walked over to Aayla, bending down to look the former Jedi in the eye, he loved teasing her, just to see how her lekku curled when she got flustered. The intensity of his gaze didn't help her current emotional turmoil. "Stop staring."

"That's impossible." Naruto grinned before turning back to the assistant. "We'll take it."

The girls face beamed even more as she nodded and moved to the task. Naruto turned, seeing Aayla's mouth open and close repeatedly, as if she were about to protest but his beaming smile stopping her from doing so. Finally she closed her mouth, and settled on sending him a half hearted glare.

"Don't say it doesn't suit you." Naruto chastised lightly.

"It doesn't suit me." She replied firmly.

"Oh but it does." He countered, looking her in the eyes again. "You look absolutely ravishing in that dress love, and I want to see you in that dress again."

Her refusals were at the tip of her tongue, but stopped dead and melted away as she looked into his eyes. Finally, after a moment of internal turmoil she relented. She was still a Jedi in mind, living of what was necessary, no great luxuries or trinkets bought by desire. A dress like this was not considered necessary in her mind, besides when would she have an opportunity to wear it?

"Do what you want," she replied sullenly, crossing her arms under her bust and looking away, defeated by a simple pleading look. The boyish grin he gave when victory was assured made it even worse, but she couldn't help the little smile.

"Looks like this trip wasn't a waste after all," Naruto murmured as she turned back to the dressing room and her clothes. He then looked down at the little form in his arms. "What do you think?"

"Uh huh," she replied.

"That a girl."

It didn't take Aayla long to come out of the dressing room, back to wearing her skin tight leather pants and top, the dress folded across her arm as she approached the group and hesitantly gave it to the assistant. Naruto happily bought the dress, as well as a mess of other clothes for Rachi before he was finished. With that they left the shop and were back onto the main street.

That was when things started to go wrong. They made it a couple of steps before Aayla's senses began to tingle and with a call to Naruto she jumped and spun to the side. Naruto moved on pure instinct the moment he heard his lovers warning and dived to the side, a screaming Rachi and flailing shopping bags clutched in his arms as he hit the ground and rolled. The place where they once stood was peppered with blaster bolts, leaving burn marks on the cobblestone ground.

"Damn it, they move fast." A gruff voice growled.

"Kill them now!"

Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle and dropping the bags but keeping a firm hold on a disoriented child he performed a backward handstand, flexing his arm and spring boarding up and over a parked landspeeder. He hit the ground on his rear, leaning against the other side and heard the dings and zips of blaster fire as it pounded the hull.

People were screaming and running, the once tranquil street had turned into a sight of pure chaos. He peeked over the hood of the speeder in time to see Aayla skid across its surface, landing right beside him. She gave Rachi a once over, sighing in relief when she saw that she wasn't hurt but obviously in shock.

"I'm going to kill these morons." Naruto growled low in his throat.

"Calm down, Rachi's fine and they didn't even scratch me." Aayla quipped, flinching slightly when a blaster bolt slammed into the bodywork right on the opposite side of where she was sitting.

"It's not that." Naruto said simply before turning his head and sucking in a breath. "Hey assholes, you even singe that dress and I'll stick those blasters right up your asses!"

He looked back to see his girlfriend give a puzzled look. "There are a couple of assassins shooting at us, Imperial troops will be converging on this spot within moments and you're worried about a dress."

"It was expensive and I want to see you in it again." Naruto replied with a shrug. "I want to rip it off you!"

"Okay, we can talk about priorities later." Aayla said after a pause, putting a bit of a drawl on okay before a kunai knife flew into her hand. She was about to throw it, but Naruto gripping onto her forearm, stopping her. The former Jedi gave him a look of surprise. "What?"

He pointed down the street, waiting for his lover to see a dozen approaching Stormtroopers rounding a corner. Aayla bit her lip, not believing their bad luck. She turned back to Naruto, cursing him for telling her to leave most of her weapons on the ship, but a smirk stopped her. "Play along."

The Stormtroopers came to a halt, fanning out across the street and bringing their weapons to bear on the occupants of the fire-fight. Aayla had her kunai at the ready, and was considering loosing it when Naruto began shouting and pointing.

"Hey, help us, these crazies came out of nowhere and started shooting up the place!" He shouted, jumping up from his cover and pointing an accusatory finger towards the three assassins, a huge Cathar carrying a long barrelled blaster rifle and a pair of Zabrak twins, one armed with duel blaster pistols while the other had a strange melding of a thick pistol with a curved bayonet blade under the barrel.

It clicked in barely a moment for Aayla. They were both in their disguises, to the Stormtroopers they must have looked like some innocent bystanders on the street. She took a deep breath and began crying, trying to look as terrified as possible. "Please help, they just started shooting. Our daughter, did they hurt our daughter!?"

The lead, a black uniformed Lieutenant, gave them a quick look before pointing his pistol at the three mercenaries, his squad following suit. "Freeze-"

Sensing the danger, high on adrenaline the three mercenaries began shooting. The Lieutenant was caught square in the chest, and fell back, pistol dropping from slacked fingers. The Stormtrooper to his left was hit in the shoulder, spinning around but remaining on his feet. Then the rest of them levelled their weapons and opened fire with a withering storm of blaster bolts.

The three mercenaries didn't stand a chance.

The Cathar went down first; being the largest and easiest target he was riddled with crimson bolts, falling to his knees then on his side. The twin with the duel pistols managed to squeeze off a few more shots before a bolt struck his temple, head snapping back as he fell. The last twin barely had time to see his brother fall and scream in rage before he was shot, a double tap, once in the head and twice in the chest. It was all over in a matter of a few seconds.

There were a few moments of silence, and then one of the troopers began barking out orders to the rest of the squad. It brought back a few memories for Aayla, of a time when she had been commanding men like this on a battlefield. "Secure the area; make sure they're not getting back up. Get those civilians out of here."

Naruto noticed a trooper checking the vitals of his superior officer as two Stormtroopers rounded the corner of the half destroyed speeder they were hiding behind and motioned them to their feet. He felt Aayla through their bond, how tightly wound she was at being so near to these troopers and not being in combat. He grabbed her free hand with his own, making her look at him and into his eyes. He hoped he conveyed how much she needed to stay calm, well as calm as a civilian should be when they just survived a shootout.

To his luck the Jedi in her shone through and she nodded her head, the weapons she kept in her other hand shot back up into the holster out of sight. Rachi either had caught onto their rouse or she was actually terrified enough to start crying, Naruto guessed it was the latter. "Thank god you all showed up, another few moments and those animals would have probably killed us."

One of the Stormtroopers nodded his head, "Can you tell us what you saw? Were they after anyone?"

"No sir," Aayla replied, gripping onto Naruto's arm and burying her head into his shoulder. Never say that she was not very good at acting the part. "They just started shooting."

They spent another fifteen minutes in the plaza, lost in a crowd of witnesses who had seen glimpses of what had happened without gaining the whole picture. All of the statements were roughly the same. That the three of them just seemed to walk into the street pulled out weapons and started shooting at one of the shops. Three people were injured in the initial barrage, the Lieutenant was killed in the opening salvo and one of the troopers had a flesh wound to his shoulder.

The Stormtroopers had definitely taken over the role of the local law enforcement as well as acting as an occupation force. They took statements as medivac crews removed the bodies and treated the wounded. Naruto and Aayla waited, safe in their disguises and were eventually released after they had answered questions and gave fake names and addresses. Naruto was even able to retrieve their shopping bags after the contents were checked.

The three of them waited until they were safely out of earshot before speaking to each other. They were still playing the part of a traumatised family caught in the middle; Aayla was still hanging on tightly to his arm while Rachi had finally calmed down, though she was still sniffling.

"Didn't think you had it in you," Aayla murmured quietly.

"Hey, I'm a Shinobi. It's part of the rule book to use deception whenever the opportunity presents itself to me." Naruto replied. "If anything I'm surprised you were able to catch on so fast."

"Who do you think you're talking to, I did do plenty of behind enemy lines work at the beginning of the war so I do know a few tricks and as you said deception is one of the keys to being a Shinobi." Aayla gave him a questioning look. "I am a Shinobi now, am I not?"

Naruto chuckled discretely. "I guess you are."

Aayla shook her head before reaching over and securing Rachi from her boyfriend, making sure the two of them faced each other. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Rachi hesitated, sniffing before nodding.

Aayla smiled, and Rachi relaxed. "That's a brave girl."

"I think it's time we headed back to the ship."

"Agreed."

The three of them continued on, unaware that they were still being watched. Bane watched them leave, arms folded and a smirk on his features, "Hmm, well played."

The Mandalorian was right beside him, knelling on the rooftop, t-shaped visor glaring. Bane didn't know the man's full identity but did know his surname. "What do you want to do?"

"Let them go for now." Cad replied. "Trying to hit them head on will likely end with the same results and I don't want to share the bounty any more than I have to. You have attached a tracking device to their ship."

"Off course," The other hunter shrugged.

"You weren't discovered?"

"Piece of cake," Skirata replied.

"Good, then we lay low and wait for the opportune moment to strike."

* * *

Carpathian

In the greater scheme of the galaxy the planet was not very important population wise, industrially or strategically. It was a world caught and held in a perpetual winter, a planet consuming ice age which started some two thousand years ago and had no intentions of letting up any time soon. The surface was so cold that the inhabitants, mainly mineral miners and their families lived in protective domes of which only a tenth was visible above ground.

Sasuke looked over the report on the datapad one last time, uttering an intolerable sigh as he once again looked upon the white sphere before him. The planet may not be very powerful or important, but it did have a seat in the Imperial Senate, and its senator was becoming very vocal about the Empire, mainly how he considered it illegitimate and proclaimed that he was going to call a referendum for independence.

Needless to say that the Emperor considered this planet, and its leaders, an eyesore, and that was why it was on his list. His people's targets were off course the Senator, the planetary governor and the leaders of the local militia, about a dozen individual's altogether. The Director-General of Imperial Intelligences Covert Ops unit 539 smirked a little at the list of names.

"The shuttle is fully prepped and ready my lord." The Captain reported. "The unit is aboard and ready to disembark."

Sasuke did not speak, simply making a gesture with his one free hand as he read over the latest reports of ship movements across the sector, eyes catching onto a very intriguing report of a Superiority squadron of new _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers in the vicinity. He wandered why such a force was needed, with Carpathian considered the only rebellious world in the sector.

The _Reprisal _was more than enough to make the planet submit, why add an additional six Star Destroyers of the same class?

"My lord," Sasuke turned his head in time to see a single officer, Lieutenant, offering him a sheet of flimsiplast, which he took with a nod to let the man know he was dismissed. The Lieutenant saluted sharply, and turning on his heel left the command deck. With him gone Sasuke looked over the information on the report, eyes widening slightly.

"The shuttle may disembark!" the Captain ordered.

"Belay that." Sasuke said, calmly rescinding the order.

"My lord?"

"Abort the mission, dismiss the agents and get the shuttle back into storage. We have been reassigned." The Uchiha replied, waving the sheet of flimsy idly, waiting for the Captain to take it and read over what he had just read.

The man's eyes widened fractionally in surprise, before returning back to their neutral expression, "I see, seems a little harsh."

"Mm," Sasuke hummed in way or response. "The Emperor no longer considers the actions of the leadership to be above those of the inhabitants. The referendum is ninety six percent for independence. As such the Emperor considers the entire planet and its population as a rebel hotbed and enemies of the Empire, meaning that he wants to make an example."

They arrived as silently as wraiths, and they were certainly just as terrifying to the untrained eye as the mythological spirits, half a dozen dagger-shaped forms materializing right in front of them. Sasuke did not speak; neither did the Captain nor anyone present as the six mile long _Imperial-class _Star Destroyers took up formation in high orbit around the planet.

The naval code for the operation was known as Base Delta Zero, an order for the complete surface destruction of a planetary target, eliminating all life, industry and natural resources on the ground of the target planet. Sasuke had read up on the technique in history books and records of military significance, but he never thought he would see such an act of complete destruction and annihilation in person.

He was wrong.

They fired as one, beams of emerald green light piercing the atmosphere of the planet, blowing holes in giant clouds, burning the ozone around them, and when these beams of turbolaser fire hit the surface of the planet it could only be surmised as Armageddon, complete and total. The explosions burned through the crust of the planet, leaving volcanic like masses of fire and ash, which slowly rose up until they looked like huge mushroom shaped clouds which widened for miles and miles in every direction.

"A single Star Destroyer of that class can perform a complete Base Delta Zero on a planet of this size within twenty four hours. There are six Star Destroyers out there, doing the same job. That planet won't last the hour." Sasuke mumbled under his breath, noticing absently the looks of surprise and shock in the surrounding crew, even the Captain himself.

Ten million lives. That was the official population of that planet, and the Emperor wiped them out without even a second thought. Sasuke considered this for a moment as he rose from his command throne, considering that Palpatine and Madara would have probably gotten along very well, both were psychopaths who revelled in acts of genocide and planet wide annihilation after all.

"We have a new target Captain, set a course for Naboo." Sasuke ordered.

"Naboo, sir?"

"The Emperor considers this target take primary concern, all others are secondary," Sasuke replied with a smirk. "Assemble my troops, and make course for Naboo Captain."

"Yes my Lord."

"So Naruto it seems that the old man has seen sense," Sasuke muttered as he exited the command deck, wandering down the single long corridor towards the turbolift. "He understands that the only one who can hunt you down is me."

He entered the turbolift, doors closing behind him as he chose which floor he was to go too before leaning against the back wall and glancing at the ceiling silently. She was there again, dressed in a beautiful kimono which matched her emerald eyes and cherry blossom hair, but as the turbolift descended Sasuke felt a moment of gut wrenching pain which had nothing to do with the sudden inertia.

She looked so heartbroken.

He watched in horrified fascination as tears streamed down her face, and her mouth moved wordlessly, words which he was able to understand despite the lack of sound.

Save me.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Yeah the whole getting into a schedule with my writing didn't exactly pan out. I was going through a bit of a tough spot I admit, with my writing in general and not just this. I'm not going to say that I'm over it quite yet, but I think I've crossed something of a hurdle. We'll see in a month or two if I can get back into the swing of things._

_Anyway the three stories I am going to concentrate on, hopefully, will be this one, my Wanderer story which was updated last Sunday (wink, wink, nudge, nudge lol) and my slightly sidetracked attempt at rewriting a Battlestar Galactica/Stargate story The Thirteenth v2. I've updated my authors profile, placing stories in finished, in progress and on hold/discontinued/deleted piles as they currently are instead of as they were in 2011._

_Anyway, you guys know the drill, a review for your thoughts and all that._


	41. The Closing Noose

_**Chapter 40**_

_**The Closing Noose**_

"Okay, what the hell happened?"

Rex had a rebuke on the tip of his tongue, yet that was silenced when the entire superstructure of the freighter shook violently once again, sending everyone flying to the deck. Naruto was the first to recover, scrambling to his feet and barrelling through the exit and towards the cockpit, Rex and Aayla was right on his heels as he reached his destination only to find not the long lines of hyperspace but the flickering pinpricks of real-space.

"Everyone to your stations, as in right now!" Naruto shouted as he jumped into the pilot's chair and buckled himself into the crash webbing. Rex took the co-pilots seat while Aayla rushed the main sensor array.

"Looks like we were forcefully taken out of hyperspace by a gravity well," Aayla called from her station.

"A gravity well, as in a planets gravity well?" Naruto asked with a puzzled frown as he pushed forward on the hyperdrive lever, shutting off the engine before it could explode and bringing the sublight drives online. "Who planned the course?"

"I did." Rex replied.

"Rex, did you break my ship!?"

"No, there weren't any planets in the way, it's a heavily used route," Rex shot back gruffly. "I checked the Hutt spitting thing three times before giving it the okay."

"I see no signs of any astral bodies," Aayla piped in helpfully, bringing Rex into the clear.

Celeste and Obi-wan came in next, the millennia old Jedi taking her spot on the comm. while the Jedi Master came up beside Naruto. "I sent Knights Antilles and Lo'kris to the ball turrets... your Wookiee friend took a knock to the head but is otherwise fine, he's tending to the youngling."

Naruto nodded before turning back to Aayla, "Anything on the sensors?"

"Yeah, and you're not going to like it." She replied. "We've got a large ship bearing down on us."

"I'm getting some chatter on the comm." Celeste added. "Whoever it is they're demanding our immediate surrender."

"Well that settles it." Naruto replied before pushing the throttle and gunning the engines, a sudden wave of inertia forced those seated into their chairs and those standing to brace themselves as the _Will of Fire _increased speed.

"_This is Lo'kris to the bridge," _the familiar voice of one of Kenobi's Jedi blared through the intercom. _"We've got an Imperial Interdictor on our six, can't be sure from this distance but it looks like an Immobiliser."_

"Well that explains everything," Rex ground out. "An Interdictor has the technology to create an artificial gravity well to pull ships out of hyperspace. I'd heard rumours they were experimenting with the idea during the war, reverse engineering old technology or something, but I never saw it in use so I thought they had given up on the idea."

"Well it looks like they haven't." Naruto barked.

"Confirmed as an Interdictor, I've got smaller signals... they've launched fighters!" Aayla called.

"How many?" Rex asked.

"Half a dozen!"

"Hey kids, get those guns primed because it looks like we've got company coming!" Naruto shouted into the intercom, getting clicks of acknowledgement from the two young Knights on the other end. "Lowie, get down to the engines and see how bad the hyperdrive's been shot up, see if you can coax it into another jump!"

A roar from the comm. was his answer. His friend was on the job.

"That'll be useless as long as that field is active!" Rex called.

"Don't give me the obvious give me options!" Naruto shot back.

"Two options, either we outrun the thing or we find a way to shut down or malfunction the Interdictor field long enough to jump away," Celeste answered, making the other members of the crew look at her in mild surprise. "Interdictor fields were used during my timeline. It's a bit strange though, Interdictors have to make sacrifices in armament to fit those gravity well generators. It's usually good strategic practice to have an escort!"

"Meaning something bigger is probably being notified and is on the way." Obi-wan surmised.

"You boys aren't going to like this but I've picked up another ship, few hundred kilometres away." Aayla interrupted as she brought up the information from the sensors and cross referenced it with all known ship classes on the database, "_Dreadnaught-class _Heavy Cruiser, inbound."

"Congrats Celeste, you just jinxed us!"

"Could be worse, at least it's not a Star Destroyer, eh?" Naruto asked.

"_TIE's are in range, opening up!"_

Naruto snarled under his breath, bringing the freighter into a sharp roll as the first shards of emerald laser blasts shot past them, in response he felt the slight tremor of the ball turrets on the _Will of Fire's _ventral and dorsal sections return fire with streams of crimson. He saw this and immediately brought the ship into a sharp turn to port, forcing the TIE's to pursue while trying to get more distance on the Interdictor.

"Well this is going to be fun."

* * *

The _Xanadu Blood _was the personal ship of Cad Bane, a _Rogue-class _Starfighter modified well beyond her original specs. Out of the bounty hunters small repertoire of ships and vessels it was considered his favourite, and he only used it for what he considered his most difficult and dangerous jobs.

This would be scaled as perhaps one of the most difficult jobs he had to pull off in years. So dangerous that even he knew he probably couldn't take it alone, so that was why he had agreed to forming a small alliance with a handful of other mercs and hunters under the employ of Black Sun. His prized possession was just one a half a dozen other vessels, ranging in size from small modified fighters like his to heavily modified freighters and gunships.

Of this small assortment of ships only one caught his eye, not on the designs but because he knew exactly who was piloting it. The Mandalorian Hunters ship was an _AEG-77 Vigo_, a fairly new transport ship which could be easily modified with weapons such as laser cannons and missile launchers.

His comm. crackled to life, the Mandalorians voice echoing into his cockpit. _"I have found them."_

"Where?" Bane asked.

"_Coordinates sent to you now, they've been ambushed by an Imperial scouting group."_ The Hunter replied. _"An Immobiliser and a Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser, looks like the Imps have been sending out messages since they engaged."_

"What are they saying?" Bane asked.

"_It's a message to a High Inquisitor, reads a simple 'We have them'."_ The hunter was silent for a moment. _"If the Imps get them we can kiss that bounty goodbye."_

"Obviously," Cad replied as he relaxed into his chair. "Not to worry though, I've got a contingency."

"_Want to share?"_

Bane allowed a thin smile, easily changing the subject. "If they keep going on their planned trajectory where will they go?"

There was a moment of silence before Skirata replied, obviously not liking his question being skimmed over. _"There are a few choices, but the most obvious seems to be Cathar."_

"They're probably not going there now, look for any planets which are habitable but don't have any major settlements on them," Bane ordered idly, cracking his neck. "Chances are once they escape the Imps they will go to ground. The tracker you placed on their ship will do the rest."

"_You seem so sure they will escape."_ Skirata replied, returning to the previous subject of his interest.

"Lead a Bantha by the nose and it'll run right into trouble without noticing, that is what will happen my friend." The supposedly best Bounty Hunter in the business replied. "Send word to the rest not to pursue until I say otherwise."

"_Very well,"_ the Mandalorian replied at last before the comm. shut off, leaving him alone.

"Mandalorians," Bane scoffed, reaching under his pilots console and pulling out a small flask, "Always pushy."

* * *

"My lord, we have news!"

The High Inquisitor turned from where he stood, one good eye watching as the Imperial officer approached with a simple datapad in his hands. The man saluted sharply before presenting the device to him, and Antinnis Tremayne took the device and looked through the contents.

"Now that is interesting." He muttered to himself.

"Your orders my lord," the officer asked.

"Recall all agents in the sector. If they are close enough to the contested area then they are to help with containment, if they are not then they are to assemble here and await instructions." The High Inquisitor replied as he continued to look over the contents of the holopad. "I want the _Usurper _ready to go effective immediately, head to the location, find and apprehend the fugitives."

"Yes my lord." The officer saluted and turned on his heel, rushing from the observation deck and the small unit of black robed agents which guarded it.

High Inquisitor Tremayne did not give the man a second glance as he turned his attention back to the holopad, eyes scanning every bit of information presented before him. The target had been spotted in a number of random sites from Alderaan to Mustafar to the final sighting barely a day ago on Naboo, he was also sighted on Taris in roughly the same time and place he had lost two agents, so that explained their fate.

This man was living up to his unpredictable reputation, and it seemed the sheer blind luck of a Captain had finally brought his series of rebellious movements to an end. The Captain in question would be handsomely rewarded for bringing such an infamous enemy of the Empire to justice, probably a promotion or a generous sum.

He would be rewarded, but it would be Tremayne who would bring the vagabond to the Emperor, alive and in chains. The Inquisitor allowed a cruel smile. He supposed half dead and broken would suffice just as well.

* * *

The TIE fighter went up in flames, its solar panel wings detaching from the impact which destroyed the cockpit and spinning into open space. The remaining fighters did not even hesitate with the loss of their comrade, but swooped back into the fray, after their prey, with a renewed fighting spirit in watching one of their comrades fall.

You can say a lot about an Imperial pilot, but at the end of the day they were sentient beings just like their enemies. If one of their comrades, wingmate, and friend was blasted out of the sky then the Imperial pilot would feel what any other person would feel, sadness, a sense of loss, and then a burning wish to avenge their fallen comrade.

It was with this renewed vigour that Aayla watched the other five TIE fighters break off, regroup and then continue their chase in a new formation. In response Antilles and Lo'kris continued to unleash streams of laser fire from their ball turrets, trying to keep the Imperials guessing and disorientated enough to not make a straight shot.

It was working, for now. But Aayla could already see another half dozen TIE fighters escaping the main hanger of the Interdictor and closing in on them, and the escorting _Dreadnaught _Cruiser was playing it just as safe as the capital-ship it was guarding, staying on its flank just in case Naruto decided to do something crazy like try and take out the gravity well generator with a dozen proton torpedoes.

This was something which she knew he was thinking about.

"I think we may need to go for broke guys," he said at last.

"You're not thinking of charging the Interdictor are you?" Rex asked, looking at his friend with slightly wide eyes. "Do you know the chances of a freighter like this surviving a head on confrontation with one of those ships?"

"I'm guessing in the hundreds to one." Naruto supplied.

"You're damn right."

"It's either that or they run us down, give me some options here Rex." Naruto shot back.

He wanted too, really Rex did, but he didn't have one. At the rate they were going they would eventually be overwhelmed and run down by the Imperials. He knew this, but turning around and facing off against an Imperial capital-ship, even if it was an Interdictor whose purpose was more to entrap prey than destroy it with heavy guns, were still very small in terms of odds of success.

"I suppose we don't have much of a choice." Rex said at last.

Everyone else was in complete, but worried agreement. Aayla could feel the worry and lack of belief in survival through the force. Naruto even seemed to feel it, though he hid it behind his usual demeanour of bravado. "Alright folks, let's show them just how lucky we are!"

"Hold on a moment," Celeste shouted, listening into her earphones with widened eyes. "I'm getting some comm. chatter."

Rex sighed, "Looks like we're not getting out of this after all."

"You're being awfully cynical this morning." Naruto quipped.

"I'm getting half a dozen ships coming in, but they don't match any Imperial schematics." Aayla decided to report, watching as they appeared just outside of the interdictor zone and made the rest of the way in on sublight engines. "Give me a minute... this doesn't seem right."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, cursing as another few burst of laser cannon fire slammed into the ailing shields.

"I mean they don't seem to be coming in with any real strategy or formation in mind." Aayla replied as she continued to scan the ships by the information giving to them on the scanners. "This doesn't coincide with any military tactics or professionalism... it almost seems like they're each coming in on their own."

"I'm getting some chatter on the Imperial channels," Celeste called from her console, it was a good thing Rex spent those six months they were training on learning how to hack, and he seemed to teach those learned skills to Celeste over the last few months. "The Imperials are sending out their last wave of TIE's. The escort has been ordered to get into a tighter formation with the Interdictor."

"Why would they do that?"

"I've got six vessels... small, fast and nimble." Aayla relayed.

"I'm getting a broadcast," Celeste called, pressing the earphones into her head with a frown before turning back to her friends. "They're introducing themselves as the Stark Pirates, demanding that the Imperials back off and leave us to them."

"What did the Imps say?" Obi-wan asked.

"Not sure, but I think the commanding officer asked if the leader of the pirates was on drugs." Celeste replied, looking at them quizzically. "They seem to be insulting each other."

"Seriously?" Rex asked, amused.

"The Pirate made some comment about the Imp officer's mother, and the Imp officer said something about him being a noble of Eriatu and promising to dance on the pirate lord's grave once he puts him there." Celeste continued, lips slowly curving into an amused smile of her own as she continued to listen to the conversation. "Oh, it's getting pretty colourful."

Aayla and Naruto looked at each other for a moment before the blond sighed, "When did this go from invitation only to open season?"

"Maybe we should use this chance to escape boss." Rex put in helpfully.

"Not while the generators are active we can't." Naruto replied, and then a grin spread across his features. "Remember that suicidal idea I had a few minutes ago?"

"Yes?" Both Kenobi and Rex replied.

"What are the chances of it working when they're engaged with a pirate fleet?" Naruto asked.

"Better, but just on the top side of suicidal," Obi-wan replied, though everyone could see that the Jedi Master was in agreement with the Shinobi's idea. The smile basically took away any deception that he was trying to convince Naruto otherwise.

"I've got another contact," Aayla called.

"Sure, why not invite someone else?" Naruto mumbled out in annoyance. "Who is it this time!?"

"Star Destroyer," Aayla murmured disbelief clear.

"What?" Rex asked, feeling a chill which had nothing to do with the temperature.

"We have an _Imperial-class _Star Destroyer, the _Usurper_!"

"Is that bad?"

"It's the preferred ship of Antinnis Tremayne, former Jedi Apprentice, current High Inquisitor of the Imperial Inquisitorious." Rex explained, watching as images of the Star Destroyer appeared on the console.

"Again, is that bad?"

"He was personally trained by Darth Vader."

"Well shit."

* * *

"Target confirmed. It is the rebel's ship."

From his command chair Tremayne nodded, "Launch fighters, and bring us within range. It is time we wiped this threat away at its source."

"We also have an Imperial taskforce, and a cluster of unmarked vessels."

"Ignore them, they are not the target." The High Inquisitor waved off, rising from his chair and walking a few steps towards the huge view-screen. "If anyone gets in our way they will be annihilated, no mercy, no quarter."

"Yes sir."

His orders given Tremayne clasped his hands behind his back and watched the events unfold. All of the Empire's recent woes, the sudden organised approach the remnants of the Jedi Order were taking to conceal themselves, the escape of the last great Separatist armada, the low level insurgency taking place by a band of rebellious Clones. They could all be traced back to this man, Naruto Uzumaki, he was a danger to the Empire, to the forces of Order, and he needed to be stopped.

* * *

"Oh what the hell," Rex threw up his hands in defeat. "By all means, wield away."

"Awesome!" Naruto grinned as he brought his freighter into a steep turn, right back towards the Imperial formation. "Pirates and Inquisition behind, Imperials in front, place your bets people!"

"Oh force me!" Celeste cried as the greyish form of the Imperial Interdictor quickly overtook their main view-screen.

"We're going to die," Rex added, murmuring more to him than shouting it out to the masses.

Naruto did not seem to take notice, only using his free hand to open the trigger for the three tubes under the main disk of the freighter at the fore, each one loaded with two proton torpedoes designed for rapid fire. By this time the Interdictor and its escort was firing all of its weapon batteries in response to the fire of the Pirate fleet, perfect for his insane plan.

He pushed away the plastic holders for the triggers and pushed the three of them, feeling the tremor as three proton torpedoes fired from their launchers, all aimed for the same spot. That spot was the dome shaped form of the starboard front gravity well generator. The shields took the strike, shimmering blue as the shields rippled, but Naruto pressed the switches barely a second later, releasing the other three proton torpedoes.

The shields were overwhelmed.

They stopped the first torpedo to hit, but the other two pierced the taxed defence and struck the dome shaped construct with explosive consequences, dual explosions of flame and debris almost overtook their cockpits screen as Naruto pulled up and away from the suddenly stricken Interdictor.

The moment they passed the cruiser the pirates followed, and were drawn into a fire fight between them and the Imperials. One took several hits from the Turbolaser batteries and exploded, this took the rest of the pirates from their chase with them and turned them against the Interdictor, Imperial and Pirates trading blows with each other.

The blond turned to his comrades, grinning like a fool. "Well, how did we do?"

"The Interdictor field... is down." Aayla said with wide eyed surprise.

"Can we enter hyperspace?" he asked.

"Yes, we can."

"Lowie, can we jump!" Naruto shouted into the intercom.

A roar of acknowledgement was all he needed.

He grinned, grabbing the hyperdrive lever and pulling it. "Then let's punch it!"

* * *

The Imperial Officer rushed down the corridor, a sheet of flimsiplast held firmly in his hands. His destination was clear, as his commanding officer had demanded any information brought directly to him instead of blaring it over the intercom systems.

Finally he reached his destination, and allowed to the doors to open the moment they registered his presence. Immediately the officer straightened his uniform and put his cap back on so as to look professional before stepping into the dimly lit chamber. Within was his commanding officer and his unit of deadly agents, just looking at them brought a chill to his spine, for he had heard the reports of what they did and how well they did it.

They were modern assassins, warriors who displayed skills and abilities matching anything the Inquisitorious could rally in return. They looked the part with their black outfits with hoods covering their faces, donned with light black armour around their torso, as well as guards on their forearms and knees. He could see the dim bulges of blaster pistols and combat knives on their utility belts, but they had many more weapons hidden on their person.

Their commander was even more intimidating in appearance, decked from head to toe in black armour of the same make as his subordinates, a cape hung around his curved shoulder guards and a sheathed blade was at his waist. His head was free of any helm or cloth, messy black hair, skin as pale as death, deep onyx eyes crafted a carefully neutral face which rose as he noticed the officer.

"The report?" he asked.

"Yes my lord." The officer replied with a sharp salute. He approached his commander, handing him the sheet of flimsi. "We have received word from a scouting group conducting anti-piracy operations in the Colonies. They have located the ship you requested."

The Commander took the sheet, onyx eyes flashing from side to side as he read its contents, before they narrowed, a thin smile spreading his pale features. "Send word to the Captain, we're heading to the Colonies, Naboo will be our destination. Get in touch with the local naval assets in the region, ask them to deploy holonet buoys across the sector and look for any comm. traffic with the words I have inscribed."

"Your will be done, my lord." The officer responded before moving to the task.

"So," Sasuke began as he turned back to his assembled agents, all peering over a meeting table of charts and handheld devices. He looked at one large chart in particular. He pressed a few keys on the table and watched as a complete holographic map of the known galaxy materialised. "They have been confirmed sightings of them on Chandrilla, Kamino, Mustafar, Alderaan, Taris and finally Naboo."

As he spoke a line appeared on the map, moving from each aforementioned planet before stopping at Naboo. One did not have to be a genius to see that Naruto had picked up a few tricks since the last time he had met him. There was no sense of direction, any common denominators or predictable paths. He was living up to his reputation as completely unpredictable, hard to find and even harder to lockdown.

"Give me a rough location of the scouting unit."

One of his agents complied, and the line continued through Colonial space into the Inner-rim, stopping in an area between two solar systems of little importance, areas which would be considered a hotbed for pirates. The commanding officer of the taskforce was probably just on a routine patrol and happened upon them by accident, an incredible piece of luck in the man's part.

"How long will it take to get there?" he asked.

"From our current position about three hours, my lord," Hayate answered.

"They'll nab the prize before we could even get close." Yuki snarled in annoyance.

Sasuke chuckled at his agents words, "If my target was that easy to catch he wouldn't have survived this long."

"So, are we going to fight some of our brethren, Commander?" Ayame asked, obviously thrilled by the prospect.

"It would seem so, yes."

"I look forward to it." The young woman replied, an assertion shared by all in the room.

Sasuke had to admit he looked forward to it as well, a chance to meet the man once considered his friend, who always spouted his nonsense that he wanted to become Hokage and save their home from destruction. The one who went back on his promise and brought calamity to the village he had forgiven, and to the woman he loved.

When he first arrived in this strange place he did not remember. His amnesia when he awoke on that planet which did nothing but rain, followed by the indoctrination by the Emperor and his agents had made him forget about himself and his past. Kessel had changed all that. Now he did remember everything, it didn't come immediately. It took weeks and months of lying awake at night to piece all of the broken fragments of his memories together.

The Emperor and his handlers didn't know. How could they? He had simply continued to play the part of the domesticated guard dog all so he could bring his revenge together and to fruition. Revenge against his once best friend turned bitter enemy. Naruto and he both wanted to become Hokage, for Naruto it had been a dream of his all of his life, but it was something Sasuke had decided on during the war. He would become Hokage, not for recognition like Naruto but because he truly wanted to bring to the village all consuming change.

It was the only way the ghost of his teammate would find peace.

Naruto Uzumaki, the traitor, must die.

* * *

"They'll go to ground."

"Are you sure?"

"After what he's just escaped from, yeah I'm sure." Boba nodded as he relaxed in the pilots chair his father once sat on, knowing all too well it was still too big for him. "Inquisitorious, Bounty Hunters, Imperials, Mercenaries, Black Sun, the Hutts... he'll realise soon enough that he has too much heat on him, and he'll go to ground. The question is where."

"And you're sure he's escaped from that?" Sintas asked. "I mean it sounded pretty big, an Imperial taskforce, a fleet of pirates, a new Star Destroyer. I don't think anyone could escape that."

Fett allowed a grin, "Oh he'll escape it alright. That man has become infamous at achieving the impossible; the question is where he will go to ground."

"Well with the bounty on him and his known crew I would safely say he'll stay away from anywhere remotely civilised," Vel was thoughtful and Boba agreed. Indeed with such a bounty on his head Naruto would not be able to step foot into any civilised port in the galaxy without a small army of bounty hunters and mercenaries firing at him.

"So that leaves places where civilisation does not exist."

"And there are as many planets, both known and unknown, which fit that bill, as many as the stars on a clear night." Sintas sighed, massaging her neck. The blue expanse of hyperspace blurred past them as the _Slave I _followed the trail, a trail which almost any bounty hunter brave enough or stupid enough would be following. "But he wouldn't be able to go very far without being spotted, would he."

Boba agreed, "Not with the entire Imperial military looking for him, so that would take everywhere but the region he was spotted in, but even there I would safely say there was a few dozen un-colonised worlds at least."

Sintas sighed, "This is going to be a long haul."

"Comes with the mission of looking for a singular target," Fett was nonchalant. This was not the first time he had hunted single bounties across the vast expanse of space, and if he and his partner survived this it wouldn't be the last. "This should be good practice for you, Sin."

* * *

In the depths of the void was where the Separatist fleet were, outside of the known borders of the galaxy, passed the veil and into the great all consuming darkness beyond. It was the one place where they would be able to recuperate their strength and patch up their losses, well away from the military power of the Galactic Empire, for what better place to lay low than in the middle of a true abyss.

The galaxy could be seen in the distance, a great swirling mass of stars and gasses, tendril arms with a huge circular core representing the centre of the galaxy. Anyone could see this great colossus of nature from their view-port, a reminder that no matter how technologically advanced or powerful any one race of beings were they were lesser than ants before the whole of the universe.

Admiral Swell's armada was almost ready to dive back into this beautiful chaotic melee. The vessels deemed too badly damaged had been broken apart and used for repairs to those ships which were deemed salvageable. The surviving crews of these now nonexistent ships had been spread out and amalgamated into other crews. In some cases the rush repair jobs weren't the best aesthetically, but as of this moment every capital-ship, every escort, every cruiser, carrier, frigate and auxiliary vessel had been repaired and was now ready to return.

Ruk Sull, current Director of Confederate Intelligence, or should he say Fleet Intelligence, looked over the latest series of files and information from his datapad, going over the personal files of thousands of new volunteers and whatever few ships had openly joined their cause. The six months spent so far in building support were beginning to bare fruit, however few.

The fleet had been strengthened with the appearance of a few dozen ships from across the galaxy, mainly lead by former commanders of Planetary Defence Fleets and a few Confederate ships which had managed to survive thus far by staying under the radar of their Imperial hunters. A couple of _Providence _Carriers, at least another five escorts, even a five kilometre long _Subjugator-class _Heavy Cruiser had found its way into the fold, a ship which Swell had made his flagship.

That was just the Confederate elements. There were dozens of smaller ships from _Consular-class _Space Cruisers, _Dreadnought-class _Cruisers, _Carrack-class _Light Cruisers, alongside other Frigates, Corvettes, Gunboats, heavy fighters and bombers. Most of them were within seven hundred meters in length, barely considered capital-ships compared to the new generation of vessels the Empire was developing, but the Admiral was not about to look any potential gift horse in the mouth.

Least of all when most of these volunteers were coming to them thanks to their new found connections with the remnants of the Jedi Order. Even when they were considered nothing but traitors and dissidents the Jedi still held considerable clout in the Outer territories, many of those who joined felt a great respect and compassion for the Order which had acted as their shield for so many centuries.

On the note of the Jedi their own Star Destroyer was still within the safety of the fleet, alongside that Frigate their new ally had commandeered. The Frigate had remained by the Star Destroyers side ever since it had arrived, a protector for the younglings and innocents aboard. The freed slaves had been transferred from the Frigate _Morning Star_ to the larger and roomier _Refuge_. Most of the non-Confederate volunteers were now acting as the capital-ships escort, a fleet within a fleet.

Sull knew that such a thing would happen, as he looked over yet another file, and couldn't help a small smile to form. It was the latest bounties on those associated with their infant alliance. The bounties of the Admiral, the Grand Master and himself had doubled. It was beginning to look like none of them were going to be able to enter a civilised star port in the near future.

He supposed he should have seen this coming. With the Jedi reorganising themselves, going to ground, looking out for each other and setting up their own independent information networks it was becoming harder and harder for the Empire to track them down. Their own forces disappearance from known space was also raising a few worried eyebrows. An armada of enemy vessels vanishing into the blackness would have worried him in their position.

The surprise he supposed was that the young Commander who had been instrumental in organising all this was one of the top three bounties on the new list of dissidents, right in the same field as the good Admiral Swell and Grand Jedi Master Yoda. It was intriguing that he would be in such a high demand, especially considering his actions had been recent compared to the others on the list.

"Hmm, now why would they want you," he wondered, tilting his head to the side as he read the list of offences to his name. Wanted for dissent against the Empire, crimes numerous in number and insidious in nature including murder, assault, piracy, dissent, terrorism, gunrunning, larceny, impersonating an Officer of the Imperial navy, aiding and abetting fugitives and traitors of the Empire, prime suspect in the bombing of the Sorenno Space Port. Suspect is considered armed and extremely dangerous; flee on sight order for civilian's is advised. "Huh, I suppose he would be pretty high on the list with that fact sheet, most Jedi don't have this many charges against them."

"Excuse me Director?"

"Yes," he asked, chastising himself for not noticing his secretary enter the room.

"You have a line from Commander Uzumaki, secure."

"Thank you, I'll take it here." He pressed the button of his comunit, 'speak of the devil' was the first thought on his mind. "You have been busy Commander."

A groan down the line, _"You've heard already?"_

"I wouldn't be considered the Director of Fleet Intelligence if I wasn't."

A moment of silence, _"How bad is it?"_

"You are officially near the top of the Empires shit list, if you pardon the speech." The Director replied, holding up his datapad. "Crimes are numerous in number and insidious in nature. That is the opening statement on your rap sheet. Tell me how did you manage to impersonate an Imperial officer?"

"_Trade secret,"_ the Commander replied.

"Trade secret or not there are very few Jedi alive who have a sheet as numerous as you have, and considering they are all considered traitors these days says a lot." Sull pondered. "You're basically in the same grade as the good Admiral and the Grand Master."

"_What is your opinion?"_ Naruto asked.

"That you go to ground, and soon my young friend." The Muun informed. "This kind of heat is not going to go away anytime soon, not until you hit the source and make them rescind the bounty or you get caught and delivered to the Emperor in a silver platter, and a word to the wise the Emperor is known to have a small platter, just big enough for a head and nothing else if you understand."

"_Yeah I figured as much."_

"Go to ground Naruto, disappear, and fast. From what my sources say you have more than bounty hunters, pirates and the Imperial fleet after you. I'm talking about the shadow troops of the Empire. The biggest, the meanest and the deadliest blades Palpatine has in his arsenal, the ones the public doesn't know about."

"_Alright you've made your point. I'll disappear for now, and hook up with the fleet when I can. Do you think it's a good idea to recall all diplomatic teams?"_

"I have already put the idea forward to the Admiral. You just worry about yourself boy, clear?"

"_Crystal."_

"Then go boy."

The line went dead, and the Director was once again alone.

It was time to get back to the job at hand. He had not been sitting idle these past six months. He had been using the time, spreading the seeds of new spy networks and agents across several sectors of the Outer-rim. It was in its infancy, and there were definitely going to be plenty of failures along the way, but by the time he was ready he would have a network of spies, informants and agents which would give him everything from fleet movements to what the local Moff had for breakfast.

It was definitely more challenging when you didn't have the resources.

More challenging, but the results were more satisfying.

* * *

"Okay, sit-rep," Naruto said after a moment of silence, looking upon the congregation of crew and allies which were all either seated, standing or leaning somewhere in the lounge. The ship was already safely in hyperspace, away from any threats for the time being. "I know we're no strangers to unwanted attention, but getting into trouble two planets in a row, then an Imperial taskforce, then a pirate navy is a little bit much for a few days."

Everyone was here except for Rachi, little thing was asleep in their room. Aayla sat at one side of him while Obi-wan was on the other, Rex and Celeste were seated on swivel chairs across the room, Lowbacca was leaning against an expanse of bare wall, and the two young Jedi were standing to the side, not sure what to do with themselves so simply staying where they were.

The two Knights were young, humans, kid boys barely leaving their teenage years. The taller of the two was Seth Lo'kris from Commenor, lanky as he was tall with shoulder length black hair and dark eyes. The other went by the name of Jack Antilles, from Alderaan originally, a head shorter than his compatriot but bulkier through training and exercise. They were good kids, Naruto thought, a little impulsive but eager to learn new things and improve themselves.

Rex hummed in agreement, sitting on one of the swivel chairs on the far side of the chamber. "Yeah, sure we're no strangers to mercs, bounty hunters and the odd opportunistic pirates, but this seems like someone really has it out for us."

"Did you manage to contact Sull?" Obi-wan asked.

"I did."

"And what did he say?"

"That I'm quite high on the Empires shit list."

"We all knew that was coming." Rex smirked.

"Celeste, could you get onto the holonet and look up the bounties list?" Obi-wan asked.

The millennia old former Jedi nodded her head before setting to the task. "Just give me a little bit of time. Accessing the holonet is not easy in hyperspace."

"You're thinking the bounties on us have increased beyond normal?" Rex asked.

Naruto nodded, "I do, but it's more than that. We've had big bounties but it didn't get us quite _this _much attention. It's almost like being hunted by a pack of wolves on their own turf, as long as your there they will continue to hunt you."

"Maybe it was a coincidence," Seth shrugged. "I mean on Taris you were ambushed by a couple of Inquisition agents, and on Naboo it was a couple of mercenaries. Maybe they saw you by chance and decided that they could make a name for themselves by collecting your bounties."

"Maybe, but if there's one thing I don't believe in it is coincidences, everything happens for a reason, there are little underlying causes under every rock and blade of grass." Obi-wan said; arms on the table as he looked at everything and nothing at once, deep in thought.

"I did not mean to-"

"Leave it be kiddo," Naruto calmed with a toothy grin. "Don't ever think putting your opinions out there is a waste of time."

Seth gulped a little, but nodded, sending his friend a sharp look when Jack elbowed him in the side and gave him a humorous smile. Yeah, Naruto had decided, they were good kids. Lowie echoed a growl from where he leaned, and it was a good thing Naruto had learned enough about his native language that he could now tell what he was saying. Aayla still beat him to the punch though.

"Lowie has a point. This could be your heroics on Kessel and Serenno finally getting you a little bit more attention." Aayla looked at Naruto as she spoke, only to frown at his boyish grin.

"I should damn well hope so; otherwise what was the point on saving a group of Jedi, commandeering a Sep fleet and taking an army's worth of freed slaves from right under their noses. It would be a waste of time if I wasn't placed pretty highly on the public enemies list."

"And boy, are you up there." Celeste spoke up at last, turning to Naruto. "You're bounty has just increased."

"I had a bounty?" Naruto asked as he got to his feet and made his way over to the millennia old Jedi. "This is news to me."

"It wasn't much, you were pegged down as the bodyguard to a Jedi, only around five thousand Imperial Credits," Celeste explained as she brought up the main page of the site. "You just jumped from a little known mercenary to the top of the Empires list, hell boss you're in the top ten."

Naruto's mouth was practically salivating, if he wasn't with people he shared food and sleeping arrangements with he would have began cackling maniacally. "Are we talking top ten of a sector, a territory?"

"Top ten most wanted of the entire freaking Empire more like it," Celeste snorted, bringing up what looked like a basic file, with a scratchy picture taken at an angle. "Take a look, you're third, let's see... Naruto Uzumaki, rebel leader, wanted for conspiring with the Jedi enemy against his majesties Imperial forces, crimes include sedition, murder, anarchy, piracy, all manner of debauchery, terrorism, embezzlement, impersonating an Imperial officer, aiding and abetting enemies of the Empire, considered armed and extremely dangerous, wanted dead or alive for two million Imperial Credits."

The Shinobi whistled in appreciation, "I'm guessing that's a lot of money."

"You could buy your own warship with it."

"Hmm," Naruto hummed as he thought. "Two million credits, I wander if I can claim the bounty myself."

"Doesn't work that way love," Aayla chastised lightly.

Naruto snorted, "Debauchery, have they been placing listening devices in our room love? _Owe_!"

"Serves you right," Aayla muttered, lekku twitching as she removed her fist from the top of his head.

"Wow, that's quite a jump, from five thousand to two million credits," Rex tilted his head as he looked at the file before turning back to Celeste. "Who posted the bounty?"

"Give me a minute."

"So I'm like an S-ranked enemy of the state now, never thought I'd be in that position." Naruto smirked as he looked at his partner. "When you're done checking out who posted the bounties can you check out the rest of yours?"

"Why?"

"I want to keep score," the blond replied as he clasped his hands behind his head.

"Ah here we are, looks like the bounty was placed by... oh Bantha shit!"

"What?" Naruto asked, not missing the exclamation from his friend and colleague. "Who posted it?"

"Prince Xizor of the Black Sun Syndicate and Jabba the Hutt of the Desilijic Hutt Cartel, oh boy this is bad." Rex murmured, not believing the ramifications of what they had just been thrust into. "Boss, we're dealing not just with the Empire anymore, but the two most powerful criminal organisations in the galaxy. Black Sun rules from the Core worlds to the Mid-rim, while the Desilijic Cartel unofficially rules huge swathes of the Outer-rim. Together they could assemble an army of hundreds of thousands on a whim."

"Not good then?" Naruto suddenly found his enjoyment dampened somewhat, didn't last long though. "Okay now I'm thoroughly pumped, don't care if it's the Empire, Black Sun, the Hutts or my grandfathers god damned ghost."

"I knew it. The man wouldn't know danger even if it came and bit him in the balls." Rex muttered under his breath with a sigh.

"Got to admit his enthusiasm is kind of contagious." Celeste allowed.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, not much during this chapter, just a hell of a lot of action, a bunch of different people basically talking and agreeing around the same thing, getting all of the players together for the next couple of chapters. I apologise if anyone found this repetitive, just thought it was good to get the input of all the different factions._

_Then there was Sasuke's new state of mind, many of you will be wondering what the hell he was talking about. Has he deluded himself into believing his own twisted version of events, or is his own version the right one? Has he really overcome the Emperor's influence, or is it another step into his transition as a pawn? All will be revealed in time._


End file.
